


Glittering Ice

by Star_trash



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Domestic Fluff, Family, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24710005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_trash/pseuds/Star_trash
Summary: Yuuri and Victor decide to adopt a child named Joseph. These little stories are about their adventures and a bit of Joseph growing up. It's honestly family fluff because the world needs sweetness right now.*updates once a month*
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 6
Kudos: 69





	1. A big decision

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write Yuri on Ice fan fiction for awhile now, and I always heard "Joseph" in the opening instead of "yourself." So it got me thinking, "who's Joseph? Who is this song directed to? What if it was directed to their child? Wouldn't that be cute. So now I have this. I don't know how long it will be, but it's going to be a few chapters. I already have a couple planned out.
> 
> I did way to much research into this, with marriage laws, adoptions laws, etc. I basically inferred the actual adoption system and threw a couple of things in there for story purposes, but overall I tried to make it as accurate as possible. Take it as you will.

It was a crisp winter morning in St. Petersburg. The sun shined through the windows of Victor and Yuri’s bedroom. Victor’s face scrunched up when some sun hit his eyes. He groped blindly next to him, and found that his husband wasn’t in the bed.

Victor sat up on the bed and stretched, still half asleep. He grabbed a short-sleeved shirt (he wasn’t sure if it was his or Yuri’s), and his phone. He heard music from the kitchen when he entered the hallway, _so that’s where Yuri is._ He smiled to himself as he walked towards the kitchen, _it’s so nice of him to make us breakfast-_ his thoughts stalled when he saw the scene in front of him.

Yuri was wearing a black apron while he was cooking. His hair clearly not brushed, sticking up in odd angles. But that wasn’t what stole Victor’s breath away, it was his singing. Yuri had the most beautiful singing voice he had ever heard. He was singing along to the music from his phone and swaying his hip slightly, completely oblivious to Victor.

Victor pulled out his phone and immediately started to film. He didn’t know when he would ever get a chance to capture this again, so he would enjoy it while he could. When he deemed he got enough footage, he sneaked up on Yuri and wrapped his arms around his middle, putting his chin on Yuri’s shoulder.

“Zolotse, since when did you have such a beautiful singing voice.” He rubbed his cheek into Yuri’s black hair.

“Uh… well,” Yuri stammered, a blush lightly spreading on his cheeks, “I’ve always enjoyed singing, but I’ve never done it in front of someone.”

Victor tightened his arms around Yuri, “I think you should sing more. Even if it’s just at home.”

He leaned in and whispered in Yuri’s ear, “I could just imagine you singing a lullaby for our child. They would be lucky to have a father with a voice like yours.” He felt Yuri tense up in his arms. _Uh oh, I went too far,_ he unwrapped his arms and stepped back. “I’m sorry Yuri, I didn’t mean rush anything, I just…”

“It’s fine Victor,” Yuri said, not turning around. “Can you go feed Makkachin before you sit at the table?”

“Of course.” Victor turned away. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t want to raise the tension even more. He grabbed the dog food bag and shook it, summoning Makkachin, who was happy and bouncing around, oblivious to the strain in the room. Victor poured the kibble into the bowl. He noted how he was going to have to get more dog food soon. He slid down the wall next to Makkachin with his head in his hands. “Oh Makkachin, I messed up,” he said quietly, “I really hope he doesn’t hate for that, will he?”. He looked at the poodle like he the dog could actually give advice, but the dog looked at him and let out a simple ‘boof’.

Victor chuckled and scratched between Makkachin’s ears, “thanks. I needed that.” He got up and walked back to the kitchen.

Yuri had finished setting up the table and looked up at Victor, “good timing, breakfast is ready! Come sit down.” Yuri untied his apron and put it up on a hook. He had made eggs on toast with a side of bacon. Victor sat down and thanked him before eating his food.

“Breakfast is really good today Yuri, did you put anything extra in it?”

Yuri sat down across from him, “I just added a bit of pepper, nothing special.” He smiled at him, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Victor nodded and smiled. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while before Victor said, “Yuri, look, I’m-.”

“Would you really want to adopt a child with me?” Yuri blurted out. He ducked his head so he could hide his face behind his bangs.

Victor dropped his fork, stunned. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad,” Yuri said, “I was just in shock when you said that to me.”

“Oh,” Victor nodded, “that makes me feel better. I thought I messed up badly and we were going to step around each other for the rest of the day.”

Yuri laughed and shook his head, “No. We don’t have to do that.” His face grew stern, “but I’m serious. Would you really want to adopt a child with me?”

Victor beamed, “Yes. I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t think we were ready.” He paused, “are we ready?” He looked at Yuri, concerned, “are you ok with adopting a child? We would have to sort things out with our schedules, not to mention money, competitions,” he looked up wide eyed, “would we bring them to competition? What if they get overwhelmed because they’re so small.”

He was silenced by a kiss from Yuri. He looked into Yuri’s soft, brown eyes. “Vitya,” he said softly, “don’t get overwhelmed. I know this is exciting for both of us, but you need to calm down.”

Victor snorted, “since when am I the one needed to be calmed down. You’re the one with anxiety.”

Yuri chuckled, “I’ve actually been planning this out in my head for some time now.”

Victor’s jaw dropped, “why didn’t you tell me?”

“Cause, I didn’t know if we were ready yet, or ever be ready.” He looked away shyly, “I actually have a notebook with ideas written down, nearby schools, budgeting, etc.”

“You looked at schools?” Victor nodded, impressed. “It seems like your thoroughness on your programs did translate off the ice.”

Yuri grinned sheepishly, “yeah. A way I cope with my anxiety is by writing down every possible scenario and planning out for hypotheticals. That way I can sort through realistic possibilities and ones that spawn from anxiety. I didn’t think it would pay off.” He stood up, “let me get the notebook.” He ran out of the kitchen, elated.

Victor grinned and put his chin on his hand, “that’s my Yuri, surprising me with something new every day.” He calmly ate his breakfast until he heard Yuri’s footsteps. He was gripping an unlabeled notebook, grinning.

“Where were you hiding that?”

Yuri grinned cheekily at him, “that’s for me to know, and for you never to find out.” He handed Victor the book and watched him flip through it. “So, what do you think?”

Victor let out a low whistle, “You did plan for every scenario, that’s for sure.” He looked up, “what I noticed is that you didn’t want to adopt a baby. You crossed that out towards the beginning of the book. Why?”

Yuri shrugged, “adopting an older kid just seems more practical. Remember earlier what you said about schedules? If our child is in school, that’s just a whole chunk of time where we don’t need to hire a babysitter. Not to mention it’s harder for older kids to get adopted.” He flipped to a page in the book, “I was thinking between the ages of six and ten, that way- why are you laughing at me?”

“I’m not laughing at you, Zolotse. I was laughing at the whole situation.” He shook his head in disbelief, “I never thought you would want a child. I didn’t want to push the issue, but now,” he looked back at the book, “I feel like I should have brought it up sooner.”

Yuri grinned at him and kissed Victor’s hair, “you brought it up at the exact right time.

It’s been several weeks since the first discussion of adoption. In their off time from planning Yuri’s free skate and Victor’s next competition, they did a heavy amount of research in adoption programs and foster care houses. The more they looked into it, the more frustrating and anxiety inducing it was for Yuri. Victor in all this stayed surprisingly calm.

Yuri banned his head against the table in front of his laptop, “another one that won’t accept same sex couples.”

Victor was typing away on his computer looking at children bedroom items. They had a spare bedroom so space wasn’t an issue. He shrugged, “what do you expect, we live in Russia.”

“What that’s got to do with anything?” Yuri asked, confused.

“You know the gay marriage is illegal here, right?” Based on Yuri’s blank stare Victor raised his eyebrows, “oh my god you didn’t know.”

“No, obviously not.” He ran his hand through his fringe, “are we even married then?” His breathing became quicker, “is our marriage nullified?”

“No, no, no,” Victor put his laptop down and ran over to Yuri. He kneeled down next to the man and started rubbing his back, “we’re still married, just not in the eyes of the law in Russia. Why do you think I wanted to get married in Japan? At least there it’s not near criminalized. Preferably we would have gone to America but…”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhh,” they both said in unison.

Victor shook his head, “anyway, you don’t have to worry love. We’re married,” he flashed his ring, “so you’re stuck with me forever~”

Yuri chuckled and wiped the impending tears from his eyes, “thanks. I needed that.” He looked back at the computer and huffed, “it’s just annoying how every orphanage I looked at won’t let couples adopt, only single parents.” He turned to clasp Victor’s hands, “and I want us to both be there to make a decision.”

Victor petted his hair, “I know what you mean. I want us to both be there too.” He looked over Yuri’s shoulder and perked up, “oh, I know what the problem is.”

“What?”

Victor turned the computer towards him and started typing away, “you’re looking at government-owned orphanages, what we need is privately owned.” A couple more clicks and a smile, “and… there!” He clicked on the website to one and started scrolling, “St. Cristopher’s home for fosters and orphans.” Victor pointed excitedly at the bottom, “look, they accept same sex-couples!”

“And it’s not too far away.” Yuri turned and kissed Victor and grinned, “we’re going to have a child.”

Preparing for a child wasn’t easy. It was expensive and there were so many hard choices to make. Since they knew that they were adopting someone later in age, they could skip past the cribs and go to the bigger beds. Victor insisted they get gold sheets for the child and Yuri smacked him with a nearby pillow. Yuri picked up a purple set and a blue set of sheets. When Victor tried to slip in the gold, Yuri lightly smacked his hand. “What did I tell you Vitya?”

Victor let out a whine, “but Yuri~”.

“No.” Yuri sighed and rolled his eyes, “looks like I’ll be dealing with two children.” Victor chuckled and wrapped his arms around Yuri’s middle.

The rest of the shopping trip went without a hitch. They chose a medium size bed that they would build when they got confirmation that they were getting the child. They also chose matching bedside nightstands and a table the child could work at. They decided that they would choose the rest of the furniture when they got the child, so that they could decide how to decorate their room.

Overall, it was a pretty good day.

The next step was telling everyone who was close to them at the rink that they were adopting. Victor decided the best course of action was to announce it at a dinner party held at a restaurant. Victor tried booking a super fancy one, but Yuri convinced him to tone it down. “We’re just telling them we’re adopting, not leaving the rink,” he argued.

Victor conceded and made the reservation for seven people at 6:00 in two days. That way they had plenty of time to cancel if need be.

The next day they went to the rink and asked those they wanted to tell if they were available at the time specified. Mila and Gerogi were happy to accept. Yurio was a bit more stubborn.

“Why would I want to attend a dinner party with you two disgustingly sappy men?” Yurio said while he was stretching.

Yuri deadpanned, “we’ll pay for your meal and you can get anything you want.”

“Deal.”

Yakov was a bit harder to convince because he grew suspicious when Victor finished the offer. “Just what are you planning Victor?” Yakov grumbled.

“I’m not planning anything,” he said in his defense, “if by planning you mean wanting to have a dinner party with close friends, then yes I am planning something.”

“Um sir,” Yuri interjected, “we have a bit of an announcement to make. It’s nothing bad, but we wanted the people close to us to know first instead of springing it out of nowhere. We would be happy if you and Lilia came along too.”

Before Yakov could object a new voice cut in. “We would love to attend,” Lilia said as she walked up to them. “I have a feeling I know what the announcement is, but nevertheless I want to see the reactions of the others.” She gave a kind and knowing smile to Yuri before she glared at Yakov, “you better not flake out.”

“I won’t” he grumbled. He walked away, mumbling under his breath about how ‘he shouldn’t be pushed around at his rink.’

Lilia sighed and shook her head, “that man I swear.” She turned to Yuri, “I was actually looking for you. I want you in my studio tomorrow at 11:00 sharp. I know you have a background in ballet so don’t even try to make excuses for poor form.”

He nodded, “Hai ma’am.”

Yuri practiced the rest of the day in good spirts. With Victor’s coaching, he ran his short program in near perfection. The two walked out of the rink hand in hand, smiling.

The two days passed by quickly. When the day came, the couple both dressed in button down shirts and nice slacks for the dinner.

They arrived before everyone else and were seated. Yuri, nervous of course, was bouncing his leg. Victor put a hand on his thigh and smiled, “they’ll be happy, don’t worry.”

Yuri nodded, but he was still looking down at the table cloth.

The rest of the party arrived pretty much on time. Yurio was a bit late, but he had to take public transportation so it was forgiven.

After the group ordered their drinks and received them, Yakov turned to Victor and Yuri. “So, what is this announcement that you wanted to make?”

The rest of the group was surprised except Lilia at the prospect of an announcement.

“Oh, we’re telling you right away,” Yuri tugged at his collar, “ah…well…”

“Is everything ok Yuri?” Mila asked, concerned.

“You haven’t fallen out of love, have you?” Gerogi asked, gasping.

“You better not be retiring or I’m going to kick your ass,” Yurio snarled.

“No, no, nothing like that,” Victor assured. “It’s happy news.”

“Then what is it old man, spit it out,” Yurio said.

Yuri took Victor’s hands and smiled brightly, “we’re having a child!”

A chorus of ‘what’ went around the table. Except for Lilia, who took a sip of her martini and turned to Yakov, “you owe me 350 roubles.” The man grumbled and pulled the money out of his wallet.

Mila clapped her hands together, “that’s the great news! Are you doing adoption or surrogacy?”

“Adoption,” Yuri replied, “we found a privately-owned orphanage that will allow couples like us to adopt.”

“And you had to gather us all for this? Why did I have to come along?” Yurio asked.

“Well…” Victor said, “although we aren’t religious, we want you to be the godfather.”

“What?”

Yuri nodded, “we’re adopting an older child, somewhere between six and ten. We thought it would be nice for him to have an older brother figure in his life, and since you’re really close to us we thought it would be good.”

Yurio was silent for a moment before saying, “who’s the godmother?”

“We’re going to ask Minako-sensei to be the godmother, why?” Yuri said.

Yurio nodded, “alright.”

It was Victor’s turn to be surprised, “what?”

The teenager shrugged, “I’ve never had anyone under my care before. And the fact that you even considered me…” he trailed off. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Aw, Yura~” Victor reached over and hugged the teen, who started struggling.

“Oi, old man, let me go!”

The rest of the table laughed at the scene. Yuri just shook his head and laughed. When Yurio was finally able to squirm away he said, “thank God you’re making me the kid’s godfather. Maybe I can prevent him from being as dramatic as his dad.”

Victor gasped and put his wrist to his forehead, “Yura, you wound me.”

Yurio cocked and eyebrow, “See what I mean?”

Yuri chuckled and looked at Victor, “yeah, but I think he’ll make a great dad.”

“Thank you, Zvezda Moya, I think you’ll make a great father too,” he leaned over and kissed the side of his head.

Yakov raised his glass, “a toast, to the soon to be worn out couple. May your child be at least a bit saner than the both of you.”

“Cheers!”

The next day Victor made a phone call to St. Cristopher’s to schedule an appointment so that he and Yuri could meet the children and get the paperwork started.

“Greetings, Mandy from St. Cristopher’s speaking, how can I help you?” A chipper woman over the phone said.

“Hello, my partner and I were looking to adopt. I was wondering if we could set up an appointment to sort out paperwork and meet the children?”

“We’re happy to hear that you two are thinking about adopting! Please give me one second.” Victor was put on hold for five minutes until the woman, Mandy, came back, “we can actually see you today. Is 2:30 alright?”

“2:30 is perfect.”

“Can I have a name?”

“Victor Nikiforov.”

There was pause over the phone before Mandy said, “great, we’ll see you here then, have a nice day.”

“You too. Thank you so much.”

“No problem.” He heard the line click off as he let out a sigh of relief. _Things are going according to plan._

“Victor,” Yuri called out from the bathroom, “who was that on the phone?”

“Good news lyubov moya, we have an appointment at St. Cristopher’s at 2:30 to sort out paperwork and meet the children.”

Yuri poked his head out of the bathroom, “what? So soon?” He ran into the bedroom with a towel around his waist. Victor followed him in there as he was frantically rummaging through their drawers. “Why didn’t you give me any warning that you were the call. How should I dress? Showing up in sweaty exercise won’t look good. Can you call Yakov and tell him we won’t be there today? Where are my good casual slacks?”

Victor chuckled and nibbled at Yuri’s shoulders, “love, it will be fine. I already asked Yakov yesterday if we could take time off from practicing. It’s towards the beginning of the season anyway, so we won’t lose much.” He picked up a random long-sleeved striped shirt and handed it to Yuri, “and you’ll look fine in casual clothing. We’re adopting a child not doing interviews.”

Yuri sighed, “yeah, you’re right. This is all so nerve racking. I want to give a good first impression so they trust us around children, that’s all.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, plus,” he squished Yuri’s cheeks, “how can anyone _not_ trust a face like this?”

Yuri glared at him, “tease me like that again and you’re sleeping on the couch.”

Victor threw up his hands in surrender, “I’m sorry. Please don’t make me sleep on the couch.”

Yuri laughed and patted his head, “Oh, Victor, I was only joking.” He smiled mischievously as he walked past, “partially.”

They arrived to St. Cristopher’s at 2:15 with few hitches. Yuri was nervously picking at his nails when Victor grabbed his hand, “It’ll be fine.”

Yuri nodded and they headed inside.

The waiting room was clearly nicely kept. There was a large semi-circle desk towards the back of the room made out of dark hardwood. The chairs were plastic with different colors backings. The white tiles looked like they were polished recently.

They walked towards the receptionist desk, but no one was there. “Hello, we have an appointment” Yuri called out.

A woman rushed out of a back room and picked up a clipboard, “sorry about that. We were just serving snacks to the children and…” she trailed off when she finally looked at Yuri and Victor. She stared at them, dumbfounded.

Another woman came in and didn’t seem happy, “Mandy, why are you just staring? They said they had an appointment.” She ripped the clipboard from the woman’s hands and started speaking to them without looking. “Now then, what’s your name and when’s your appointment?”

“Victor Nikiforov and it’s at 2:30,” Victor said.

“Ok good. Now then Mr. Nikiforov…” she looked up and her speech trailed off too. She looked down at the paper and back up. “I don’t mean to be rude,” she said, “but are you _the_ Victor Nikiforov? The figure skater?”

He beamed, “yes, that’s me. And this is my partner…”

“Yuri Katsuki!” Mandy finished. “I’ve followed your career for two years now. Your short program last year was absolutely beautiful!”

“Ah, thank you.” Yuri blushed and scratched the back of his head, “anyway, about the appointment?”

Mandy’s face went red, “right, sorry.” She picked up a phone, “Mrs. Petrov, you’re 2:30 is here.” There was some noise over the phone before she hung up. “She’ll see you now. Last door on the right.”

“Thank you,” Yuri smiled at her as he walked away, “have a nice day.”

“You too!”

They found the room and knocked, and a female voice from inside said, “come in.” The couple entered the room to find a dark-haired woman behind a desk. “Welcome to St. Cristopher’s, I was under the impression that you were looking to adopt?”

Yuri nodded, “preferably a child between six and ten.”

She clapped her hands together, “it warms my heart when I hear couples adopting older children. They say the older they get the less people want them. It saddens me really.” She stood up and gestured behind them, “would you please follow me.” They followed Mrs. Petrov into a playroom with glass windows to the outside.

Victor and Yuri looked around the play area. There were toys and books thrown about haphazardly. There were little play sets for the children like a little castle and a slide. Victor was a bit overwhelmed. He wanted to give all these kids a good life, but that was just impossible. “Yuri,” he began to say before noticing his stare in one direction.

Victor followed the direction of his gaze and noticed a small boy, no older than five or six. He was curled up against the wall, his head in his knees.

Yuri turned to Mrs. Petrov and pointed at the boy, “is he in time out?”

The woman looked at where Yuri was pointing, “him? Oh no, that’s just Joseph. He’s been incredibly shy since the day he came here, it’s why he’s so hard to adopt out. He also can’t stand people touching him, not since his father passed away.”

“His father?” Victor inquired.

She nodded, “her father used to work here. His mother died in childbirth so his father had to raise him on his own. He eventually found a girlfriend but she was a wicked woman.” She leaned in and whispers, “poor man took his own life. Joseph found the body.”

“My god, that’s awful,” Victor whispered. He turned to Yuri to see his reaction, but his face was determined.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Yuri said.

Before Victor could stop him, Yuri marched past the other children and crouched down next to Joseph. The woman gave Victor a concerned look and he chuckled. “That’s my Yuri,” he said, “when he sees a challenge he’ll step up, no matter what.”

Yuri sat down next to the boy, “Mrs. Petrov says that your name is Joseph.” The boy nodded without looking up. “My name is Yuri Katsuki, my husband and I wanted a child, and we’re thinking about you.”

Much to Yuri’s surprise the boy did pick up his head, but didn’t look at him. “You want to adopt me,” he said, his tone laced with a bit of hope.

“MhHm,” Yuri affirmed, “we have a bedroom waiting for you back at our apartment. It has a nice bed and a desk you can work out. We also have a dog.”

The comment about the dog made Joseph look at him wide eyes, “you have a dog?”

Yuri nodded, “yes. His name is Makkachin. He’s a brown, poodle, a bit bigger than you are.”

The boy’s eyes widened even further, “wow.”

“Yeah.” He paused, gauging Joseph reactions when surprisingly the boy reached out and touched his face.

“You look like my old Papa, just with brown eyes instead of green and with glasses,” he said quietly. Tears began brimming in his eyes, “if you adopt me, you won’t leave me like Papa, will you?”

Yuri wrapped his arms around the child, “of course not. My husband and I will take care of you, I promise.” He rubbed the boy’s back, “do you want to meet my husband? He’ll be your father too.”

The boy sniffled and nodded. When Yuri moved to get up, the boy didn’t let go. Making it clear he wanted to be carried, Yuri placed his arms carefully around Joseph and picked him up. Joseph buried his head into Yuri’s shoulder. He headed towards a smiling Victor and a very surprised Mrs. Petrov.

“My, my, now this is a sight,” she said. “He doesn’t let anyone touch him, how did you do this?”

Yuri shrugged as best he could while holding a child. “He was shy at first, but when I said that we wanted to adopt him he seemed on board.” He turned his head towards Joseph, “hey, do you want to want to meet your other father now?” Yuri tried to unbury Joseph’s head from his shoulder, but the boy wouldn’t budge.

“Nice to meet you, my name’s Victor.” He reached out his hand and placed it on the boy’s back. Joseph cringed away and brought up his head to look at Victor.

“You’re not going to hurt him, are you?” He said with tears in his eyes.

Victor retracted his hand, surprised at the statement. “No, I love Yuri. I would never hurt him. Why would you think that?”

“Because the last person who promised that drove Papa away from me,” he clutched onto Yuri’s jacket, “please don’t take him away.”

“Zvyozdochka, may I call you that Joseph, zvyozdochka?” Joseph nodded, unsure. Victor went next to Yuri and held up his hand, “Yuri here is my soulmate, and this ring proves it. We love each other very much. Every day I adore him more and more. I would never do anything intentional to hurt my Yuri.” He looked into Joseph’s eyes, “I promise you I will protect both you and Yuri, ok.”

The boy sniffed and nodded, “ok.” He started for a moment before smiling, “you have the same eyes as me.”

Yuri blinked, surprised, “what?” He took a closer look and indeed Victor and Joseph have the same shade of blue in their eyes.

Mrs. Petrov giggled, “he looks like a little combination of the two of you, how adorable. It’s like it was meant to be.”

“Yeah,” Yuri said, smiling at his new family, “like it was meant to be.”

Yuri had to inform Joseph that wouldn’t be able to take him home right away because of paperwork and background checks. He ruffled the boy’s hair, “they want to make sure we’re safe enough for you. It’s take two weeks or so, will you be ok?”

Joseph nodded, “but you will be back?” He looked at Victor and Yuri, “both of you?”

“Of course, zvyozdochka, we’ll be back as soon as we can,” Victor kneeled down to him, “and then we’ll go home and be a family.”

Joseph grinned and hugged Victor briefly before turning around and running to go play. Victor smiled and wrapped his arms around Yuri, “we’re going to be dads.”

Yuri leaned his head on Victor’s shoulder, “yeah, we are.”


	2. Welcome him home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuri pick Joseph up from the orphanage.

It was a Saturday morning at the rink when Yuri got the call. Three weeks have since passed since they first met Joseph, and Yuri was starting to get worried.

“What if we got rejected,” Yuri said to Victor during a water break between practices.

Victor pushed the fringe from Yuri’s eyes, “I’m sure everything’s fine. They said it would take a couple weeks.”

“But,” Yuri began to say before Victor put a finger to his mouth.

“No ‘buts’, the more your worry on this the more you’ll flub your jumps.” He smiled at him, “now as an order from your coach, go practice your short program. I’ve noticed your step sequence is shaky.”

“Hai,” Yuri put his water bottle down and was about to get on the rink when his phone rang. “Hello,” he answered, “who is this?”

“Is the phone of Yuri Katsuki?” A feminine voice asked over the receiver.

“Yes, who is speaking.”

“Hi, it’s Mandy.”

“Oh, hi Mandy, what’s going on?” His voice raised a slight octave, “is there a problem with an adoption?”

“No, no, in fact I wanted to congratulate you and Mr.Nikiforov. The information went through and was approved. You can come pick up Joseph any time today.”

“Really,” Yuri said joyfully, “that’s great. We’ll be over soon.”

“Excellent. Some paper work still has to be done, but both parents have to be present for it.”

“Not a problem, see you soon.” He hung up the phone and grinned at Victor. “They approved out paperwork,” he excitedly hugged Victor, “we’re going to be parents!” Victor couldn’t do anything but laugh and pick Yuri up, holding him close.

“Oi, old man. What’s with the PDA, it’s disgusting,” Yurio shouted from nearby.

Victor put down Yuri and grabbed his hand, pulling away. He shouted back to Yurio, “apologize to Yakov for us, we need to go pick up our son.” Before Yurio could argue, the two were already running to the locker rooms and out the door.

***

They made it to the orphanage in record time, barely missing running some red lights. They both hopped out of the car and ran through the lobby doors. They were panting when they got through the doors, smiles plastered on their faces. “We’re here,” Victor said.

“Oh, hello,” Mandy was at the desk, vaguely concerned. “Are you alright? Your breathing…”

“We rushed here,” Victor stood up straight and brushed the bangs from his eye, “sorry about that. We were just excited.”

Mandy smiled, “I completely understand. I’ve had parents burst into tears over the phone when they were approved. Here, follow me.” They were led to a small waiting room across from the children’s play room. “I’ll go get Mrs.Petrov, she’ll have the paper work you need to fill out. One moment please,” she left them in the room by themselves.

“I can’t believe it,” Yuri said, “it’s actually happening. He leaned his head on Victor’s shoulder, “we’re going to be fathers.”

Victor kissed the top of his head, “yeah we are.” He leaned down and kissed Yuri. Yuri responded warmly and kissed him back. The kiss was getting a little heated; his tongue had licked the seam of his lips, asking for a little more, and his arms were wrapped around Victor’s neck when the door opened and they heard a chuckle.

“Ah,” Yuri’s face went bright red when he saw Mrs. Petrov, “sorry about that.” He pulled away from Victor and put his hands in his lap, the blush reaching to his ears.

Mrs.Petrov simply chuckled again, “it’s fine. I’ve walked in on worse.” She sat behind the desk with a file folder in her hands, “in my opinion, affection like that shows a sign of a healthy relationship, considering how long you two have been together according to the files.” She picked some papers from the folder and handed them to the couple. “I just need you to sign these forms and then we can close out the adoption.” Victor and Yuri both signed their names happily and handed the forms back.

“Now then, who’s name will he be taking?”

Yuri blinked, confused, “what?”

“Whose last name will he be taking,” she explained.

“Oh, both of ours,” Victor said.

Yuri was surprised, “really Vitya? I thought he was taking yours?”

“No, why would you think that?” He placed a hand on Yuri’s, “You have as much claim to him as much as I do. I want to show the world that he’s _our_ son.” He gave him a concerned look, “is that alright?”

“Yeah,” Yuri assured him, “I was just surprised, that’s all.” He nodded towards the woman, “Katsuki-Nikiforov, his surname is Katsuki-Nikiforov.”

“Excellent,” she wrote down more things on the forms and got up, “I’ll bring your little Joseph to you now.” She walked out and closed the door behind her.

Victor rubbed his thumb over Yuri’s knuckled and smiled at him. It was another ten minutes before they heard the door open again. It was Mandy with Joseph who was holding a little backpack, “hello again,” she brought the boy into the small office, “here he is.” Yuri and Victor smiled widely and kneeled onto the floor, holding out their arms.

“You came back for me!” He ran to them, dropping his backpack.

Victor pet the bangs away from Joseph’s face, “Of course we would, Zvezda moya, we wouldn’t lie to you about coming back.” He kissed the top of his head, “we’re your dads now.”

Joseph’s eyes began to water, “really?”

“Yes,” Yuri pulled the little boy closer, “we’re taking you home today. From now on you are our son.”

The boy began to sniffle and buried his head into Yuri’s shirt, “I wanna go home.”

Victor and Yuri smiled at each other and then at their new son. Victor looked fondly at his new family, but then his eyes wandered to the little backpack. “Joseph, do you have other luggage?”

Joseph shook his head, “no. The backpack has all my stuff.”

Victor raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then grinned. “Yuri~,” he purred, “I have a wonderful idea for family bonding time.”

“Please don’t use that tone of voice in front of our son,” Yuri said, exasperated, “but if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking about, then let’s do it.” He turned to Joseph, “do you mind a little stop before we go home?”

Joseph smiled, “nope.”

***

Their little stop turned into three. First stop was a clothing shop by the orphanage. Yuri stood back and let Victor dress up their son. He put in his input every once in a while, but for the most part he trusted Victor. He knew his fiancée was fashionable man, hell, anyone could see that from his flawless skating outfits and his interviews (which Yuri watched on repeat when he was younger.) Yuri smiled as Victor flitted around the store picking little outfits for Joseph. Joseph himself didn’t seem to care, he just liked getting the attention from his father.

“What about this?” Victor held up a light blue button up shirt.

“It’s just as nice as the past items you picked up Vitya,” Yuri said, holding Joseph in his lap.

“That’s my favorite so far,” Joseph grinned.

“Excellent,” Victor put in the pile for clothes they were going to get, “I think that’s enough for now.” He clapped his hands together, “how about after I pay we go get ice cream?”

“Ice cream!” Joseph crowed.

Yuri chuckled, “you’re spoiling his Victor.”

“So, you like it when I spoil you,” he winked at him and picked up a basket to put the clothes in.”

“Yes, but still…” Yuri began to say before Joseph piped up.

“Don’t worry Papa, I won’t become selfish.” He pouted, “I’ve met selfish kids who parents got them everything and they were mean. I don’t want to be like that.”

Yuri and Victor dropped their jaws at Joseph’s little declaration. They looked at each other then back at Joseph.

“That’s… very articulate of you,” Yuri said slowly.

Joseph smiled up at Yuri, “the caregivers at the orphanage always said that about me. I still don’t know what that means.”

Victor leaned down and kissed his forehead, “it just means you’re very smart.”

Joseph’s eyes lit up, “really, yay! Can we go get ice cream now?”

The couple laughed and Yuri hugged his closer, “yes we can.”

***

They got back in the late afternoon after visiting a furniture shop so Joseph could choose some of his decorations for his rooms. As soon as he walked into the store he grabbed a set of pink fairy lights, to which he proclaimed that pink was his second favorite color next to green. Yuri simply looked at Victor and shrugged, “why not?”

They had also picked out a green lamp, some glow in the dark star stickers, and a couple of shiny decorations like an orange salt lamp.

“He seems to like shiny,” Yuri stated as his son wandered around the store.

Victor grinned, “I can’t wait to see his reaction once you win a gold medal, you might have to hide it,” he teased. He got a slight nudge in the ribs for that comment.

When they got back and Victor pulled out the keys to the apartment, they heard Makkachin on the other side barking wildly. Joseph whimpered and hid behind Yuri’s legs.

“You don’t have to worry about Makkachin, he’s friendly,” Yuri said to comfort him. Joseph nodded, but he still hid behind Yuri’s leg.

Victor unlocked the door and Makkachin burst out, first licking Victor and then Yuri. Joseph froze up when Makkachin got to him, but all the dog did was sniff him and nuzzle his face. Joseph giggled and started petting the dog.

Yuri sat on the floor with Joseph and Makkachin while Victor grabbed the rest of the purchases from the car. After he finished, he collapsed face first onto to Makkachin. Joseph laughed and went from petting the dog to Victor’s hair.

The new family sat in silence, enjoying each-others company. Until Joseph’s stomach started to rumble.

“Guess we should start thinking about dinner,” Yuri said.

Victor picked up his head, “how about food from that new Japanese place? I don’t feel like cooking.”

Yuri shook his head, “me neither.” He turned to Joseph, “how do you feel about trying some fun noodles?”

Joseph smiled widely at him, “alright.” He stood up, “but first I want to see and set up my room!”

The couple smiled. “I’m sure we can arrange that,” Yuri said. He and Victor picked up the new decorations and headed to what was now Joseph’s room. The boy gasped and flopped onto his new bed.

“It’s so soft,” he said.

“Glad we could accommodate,” Yuri said. “Do you want to help us set up?”

“Yeah!” He slid off the bed and began helping unpack things. Victor took care of putting clothes in the dresser while Yuri helped Joseph put up the stars by holding him up. They finished after about a half hour, with Victor stringing up the lights as the final touch.

Victor picked up Joseph and asked, “do you like it?”

“I love it!” He hugged Victor around the neck, “thank you Dad!”

Victor sucked in a breath and smiled, “no problem Zvyozdochka.” He turned to Yuri and mouthed, ‘he called me Dad!”

Yuri nodded and gave him thumbs up.

***

They were all starting to get really hungry, so they ordered the food from the agreed upon restaurant. They wanted to expand Joseph’s palate for when they visit Japan so he could meet his grandparents, so they ordered him ramen with lentils, beef, and egg. He was unsure of the lentils, but when he found out that they had little taste he slurped up the rest of the food. They opted for him to use a fork, and would teach him about chopsticks later.

“Um, Papa, what is your job?” Joseph cocked his head.

“Why do you ask?”

“Ms. Mandy was really excited when you left the first time. She kept on saying your full names and talking about autographs. Are you a movie star?”

Yuri chuckled and shook his head, “not exactly. Your father and I are figure skaters.”

“Figure skaters? What are those?”

“Have you heard of ice skating before?”

Joseph nodded, “we had a field trip to an ice rink at one point, but I was too sick to go.”

“Well, we’re athletes that perform ‘shows’ that we call programs on the ice. We compete against one another for medals and money,” Victor explained. “I’m Yuri’s coach, but I also compete. We both practice at a nearby rink.”

“Can I watch you practice?”

“Sure,” Victor said, “tomorrow we can bring you to the rink we practice at and introduce you to the other skaters. It’ll be a little field trip just for you.”

“Yay!” Joseph said. Yuri and Victor were happy that Joseph had an interest in what they did. It would make watching over him at the rink easier if he was entertained. Just then, Joseph let out a yawn.

“Aw, is someone tired after their big day?” Yuri cooed. Joseph nodded and slumped into Yuri. “Brush your teeth first, then you can go to bed, alright?”

The boy nodded sleepily and got up. Yuri and Victor showed him where the bathroom was and got him a stool so he could reach the sink. Once he brushed his teeth, they got him into pajamas and he fell asleep quickly.

They watched him fall asleep, Yuri leaning into Victor. “Do you think he’ll be alright,” Yuri whispered.

Victor nuzzled his head, “with you as a dad, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! Any comments are appreciated, thank you.


	3. A little discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor, Yuuri, and Joseph have a quiet morning before they have to register him for school. They also go to the rink where Joseph comes to a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to start spelling Yuri and Yuuri because then it would match the tags, and it would stop bothering me so much, because it was for some reason. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Yuuri heard his alarm on his phone go off. He squinted his eyes at the clock to see that it was six am. He groaned and rolled over, but the beeping was persistent. He finally let out a heavy sigh and shut off his alarm. He looked over at Victor, who was still fully asleep.

“Victor,” he shook him lightly, “you have to wake up.”

The man in question rolled over and groaned, “I don’t wanna.”

“We have to get our son ready for school, remember?” Yuuri said. Victor huffed in response. “You’re the one who brought up having a kid, he’s your responsibility too.”

Victor sighed and sat up, his hair sticking up in different angles. Yuuri giggled and patted down his hair, “you look like a mess.”

He took Yuuri’s hands and kissed them, “but I’m your mess.”

Yuuri cupped his cheek, “yes, you are.” He patted his face, “now come on, you said you would be the one to enroll him in school today. It opens at eight and we have to be at the rink by nine.” He stood up and started grabbing clothes from the dresser, “I’ll be the one to get him his school supplies.”

“Remind me why you can’t come with me?” Victor asked.

“Because we have multiple things we need to do and I don’t want them to treat Joseph differently or screw up the process because both his dads are there. I want him to get in.”

“I doubt that they would reject him because his parents are a same sex couple, and the school will find out anyway once we go to PTA meetings.”

Yuuri made a noise, “yes, but still…”

Victor stood up and made his way over to Yuuri and kissed him on the head, “lyubov moya, you have nothing to worry about. But if it makes your anxiety feel better I’ll take him by myself and get him enrolled while you get the supplies.”

Yuuri gave a sigh of relief and turned to face Victor, “thank you Vitya. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

Victor kissed him sweetly. “I just want you to be happy my love. Don’t worry about anything.” He winked at him, “plus, who knows, they might know me at the school. Getting him enrolled might be a fun process to watch.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes, “everyone in Russia knows you at this rate.”

“But you’re the only one that knows the true me,” Victor said. He leaned in to kiss Yuuri, but at that moment, they heard a knock at the door.

“Papa, Da, are you awake? I’m hungry,” Joseph said through the door.

“We’ll be out in a minute zvyozdochka,” Yuuri called out. “Wow, he gets up early,” Yuuri said quietly.

“He’ll make a great skater one day if his training regime starts this early.” Yuuri rolled his eyes at Victor when he heard Joseph call for them again. He threw on his shirt and pants and rushed out of the room so he could give Victor privacy to get dressed.

***

When Victor emerged from his room, Joseph was sitting at the kitchen table with Yuuri eating a bowl of cereal. “Good morning Da,” he said, chipper.

Victor walked over and kissed him on the head, “morning little love.” He walked over and kissed Yuuri, “good morning to you too larger love.”

Yuuri chuckled and returned the kiss, “good morning Victor.”

As Victor was preparing himself breakfast, Joseph pipped up, “what are we doing today Da?”

“Well, your papa is going shopping for school supplies while we go get you enrolled in school.”

“I’m going to school?” Joseph blinked in surprise.

“Of course you’re going to school, what did you expect?” Victor said. He turned and saw Joseph looking into his bowl of cereal very seriously for someone of his age. “Is there a problem zvyozdochka?” Victor asked.

“What if the kids at school don’t like me because I’m adopted,” he said.

“Aw, sweetie,” Yuuri reached over and rubbed his back, “no one is going to dislike you for being adopted. I doubt that will be a factor in people liking you in the first place.”

Joseph looked up at him, “are you sure?”

“Positive.” He leaned over and hugged him, “now finish your breakfast. We have a big day ahead of us. Your father and I also have practice today at the rink, so we’ll be there for a while.”

Joseph’s eyes lit up, “I’ll be able to watch you skate!”

“Mmhm, but we’re going to be practicing for a long time, so I need to know if you want me to pick you up anything at the store to keep you entertained while we practice. How about a little sketchbook and some colored pencils?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically, “can I get some markers and books too?”

“Yes, that’s perfectly fine.” He patted the boy’s head and got up. “Well, I’m off to pick up his school supplies. Are you okay with taking care of him on your own?” He asked Victor.

“He’s five years old Yuuri, not five months, I can handle one little boy.” He took a bite of his breakfast, “go. We’re running out of time anyway, and Yakov will be upset if we’re late considering how much time we’ve taken off.”

“Alright, have fun you two. I’ll meet you at the rink.” He grabbed his keys and started to unlock the door when Makkachin came bounding up. He scratched the dog’s head apologetically, “sorry boy, I can’t take you out right now. Victor,” he called out, “can you walk Makka too?”

“Once I finish breakfast I will. The school is within walking distance so it’s no big deal,” Victor called back.

“Thank you, you’re the best Vitya!”

As Yuuri closed the door he heard Victor say, “no, you are!”

***

Victor sighed lovingly as the door closed, “you have the best papa in the world, you know that?”

“I had a feeling,” Joseph said. “You shower him with love and affection,” he smiled up at him, “most kids would find that gross, but I don’t.”

“Oh ho? And why is that?”

“Because it shows that you’ll keep your promise. You won’t hurt him or make him sad, just happy.”

Victor smiled at him and ruffled his hair, “I will always keep that promise. After all, I don’t break my promises. Now then, once we finish our breakfasts, how about we walk Makkachin?” Joseph glowed at the prospect of walking the poodle and rapidly finished his breakfast. Once he was done, he left to brush his teeth and let Victor finish his breakfast.

Victor got up and went to brush his own teeth before grabbing his coat. “Joseph, are you ready?” He called out.

Joseph came into the room with a light jacket while Victor put the leash on Makkachin. “I’m ready!”

“No, you’re not. It’s -6 degrees Celsius, you need a heavier coat than that.”

“But Da,” Joseph whined.

“No buts, heavier jacket and a scarf or you’re not walking Makkachin with me.” It was an empty threat since Victor knew Yuuri would have his head if he left the boy alone, but Joseph didn’t know that.

Apparently, the threat worked since instead of protesting Joseph grabbed his heavier jacket and a green scarf. “Now can we go out?” Joseph asked.

“Yes, thank you for listening to me,” Victor said. He held out his hand and smiled, “now come on, we have a dog to walk.”

“Yay!”

***

It was a chilly Sunday morning as they walked Makkachin, though the dog didn’t seem to care as he tugged on her leash and sniffed at the ground. Victor held Joseph’s hand on the way to the school. They walked slowly in silence, since Victor had to slow down his pace so Joseph could keep up.

“Hey Joseph, there’s something that’s been on my mind,” Victor said. “Earlier you asked your papa for books, does that mean you can read?”

Joseph nodded, “Yes, I can read.”

“Typically you don’t learn how to read until you enter school, so how…?”

“There was a book I really liked reading at the orphanage, but the caretakers couldn’t read it to me every time, so I taught myself to read it. After a while, I could you read the other books with some help from the caretakers,” he explained.

“Joseph, that’s… amazing,” Victor beamed, “I have a very smart child on my hands, don’t I?”

Joseph giggled at the praise, “I just like to read Da.” Victor patted his head and just smiled.

They reached the school within a fifteen-minute walk. As they entered the school, they heard a huff of annoyance. “No dogs in the school,” a male security said. He glared at the dog as if he was expecting him to go rabid. Makkachin just sat there and wagged his tail at the guard.

“Don’t worry, he’s well trained,” Victor assured.

“I don’t care how well trained it is, it stays outside.” Joseph wrapped his arms around Makkacin’s neck protectively.

“I don’t think I can do that sir, you see it’s below freezing outside and I don’t want anyone to take him,” Victor explained.

“That’s your problem, not mine,” The man glowered at him, “and state your business within the school. You better not be here to cause any trouble.”

Victor was starting to get annoyed with the guard’s attitude. “I have an appointment with the principal to register my son to this school.”

“What time?”

“7:30.”

“You should have been here half an hour ago,” the guard scolded.

Victor looked at the clock, “it’s 7:15. We have an extra fifteen minutes before the appointment.”

“It’s a policy at this school to arrive forty-five minutes early before any appointment with the principal, she’s a very busy woman after all,” the man said crisply. “You must arrive on time or else it’s going to take much longer for you to see her.” He glared at the dog, “and I don’t want that thing in here longer than necessary.”

Victor was resisting the urge to roll his eyes, “apologies for the ‘lateness’, can we go in now?”

“No, you have the reschedule your appointment, I’m sure she’s already in a meeting.”

Victor’s voice rose a bit, “this is preposterous. We have an appointment, we’re early, can’t we just go in and see her?”

“I’m sorry sir, but that’s how the rules are-“ he was saying before a woman’s voice cut in, “excuse me, but what exactly is the matter here?”

“Principal Yahontov,” the guard stood up, “I was just telling this man that he was late for his appointment and would be forced to reschedule.”

“What time was the appointment? Principal Yahontov asked. Victor pegged her as a no nonsense woman, which made this interaction all the more fun for him to witness. She was dressed in a navy blue, business pant suit with her graying hair up in a bun. She wore heels that could poke a man’s eye out Victor concluded. Even as a figure skater he marveled at how she could balance on those.

“My appointment is at 7:30,” Victor cut in before the guard could answer. He outstretched his hand, “Victor Nikiforov, it’s nice to meet you Principal Yahovtov.” He gestured to the boy next to him, “and this is my son, Joseph Katsuki-Nikiforov. I was hoping to get him enrolled here.”

She took his hand, “It’s nice to meet you Mr.Nikiforov,” she nodded at Joseph, “same to you young man.” She looked at the clock, “Gerald, it’s only 7:17, why didn’t you let them in?”

The man, apparently named Gerald, started to flounder, “well you see Ma’am, they brought their dog in and I told him to leave it outside because I knew it would cause trouble, but he kept on refusing.”

“What, this little thing.” She bent down on her knees and started scratching behind his ears, “I doubt he will cause us any trouble, will you, will you now,” she cooed. Makkachin let out a small bark and nuzzled her face. She ‘awed’ at him and stood up, “please come into my office Mr. Nikiforov, I’m sure your son will be welcomed here.”

“Thank you so much for your time,” Victor thanked the woman. As he past the man, he shot him a smirk and followed her to her office.

When they sat down in the quite inviting office considering the occupant, Victor brought up something that concerned him. “I have question for you Principal Yahovtov. You see, my son came from an orphanage, and there he was taught to read. I was wondering if there were any classes that could accommodate him at his level?”

“Yes, of course. We’ll have to put him through a reading test on the first day, but I’m sure the teacher that he has will be willing to accommodate him with more advanced books if need be,” the principal assured him.

“Thank you, and I also have another issue.”

The principal raised her eyebrow, “go on.”

“You see, Joseph is worried he’ll be bullied because he’s adopted…”

Principal Yahovtov waved her hand as if dismissing him, “we are a very prestigious school Mr.Nikiforov, and therefore we have a very serious zero tolerance policy when it comes to bullying. You don’t have to worry as long as he reports it.”

Victor smiled broadly, “see Joseph,” he rubbed the boy’s back, “you don’t have to worry. As long as you’re honest with the teacher you’ll be fine.”

The boy smiled back at his father, but stayed silent.

The rest of the process went by smoothly. Makkachin sat at Joseph’s arm so the boy could pet him. Victor signed all the necessary paperwork, and they were out of there by 8:45. “Thank you for everything,” he got up and shook her hand, “but I have to dash. I have to return my dog home and get to my job. My partner is waiting for me there.”

“I understand, have a good day Mr.Nikiforov,” she said.

***

The rushed back home to put Makkachin up, and then rushed over to the rink. Victor had to carry Joseph since his little legs couldn’t keep up with Victor’s stride. When they entered the building, it was Yakov who greeted them.

“You’re ten minutes late Victor,” Yakov scolded, “I thought the kid wasn’t supposed to be a problem?”

“We got held up at the school,” Victor said as he put Joseph down, “it won’t happen again Yakov, don’t worry.”

“It better not, lace up and be on the ice in five. You’re responsible for Katsuki too, not just yourself this year.”

Victor laughed at his coach’s bluntness, “don’t worry, I know.” He grabbed Joseph’s hand and ushered him to the locker room.

“The old man is scary,” Joseph said, “is he going to yell at me too?”

Victor petted his head, “don’t worry little star, he won’t yell at you. He only yells at me because he’s my coach.”

His eyes went wide, “are you going to yell at Papa like that when you’re coaching him?”

The platinum-haired man chuckled, “no. My coaching techniques are different from Yakov’s. Now come on, Yuuri is waiting for us.” They walked out of the locker room and into the rink. Joseph’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped at all the skaters. Unlike most rinks, this one had low walls and was mostly tough plexiglass, so Joseph could see the skaters easily. Victor noticed his gaze was following one of the newer female skaters, a Taiwanese skater with windswept black hair.

“They’re so pretty,” Joseph said in awe.

“Wait till you see your Papa,” Victor said, happy that his son was enjoying the skaters.

The found Yuuri pretty quickly practicing his short program, and boy was Victor right about how amazed Joseph would be. Victor stood there for a few moments just listening to his son’s reactions. He gasped at every jump Yuuri did and ‘ooed’ and ‘awed’ at every spin and even at his step sequence. When Yuuri finished up, he finally noticed his son and fiancée and skated over. He gave Victor a peck on the cheek, “how did I do?”

“Your triple toe is looking good, but your spins need work,” Victor said, now in coach mode. “You should run it again fully just so I can see what else you need to work on. We just got here.”

“Hai, understood.” He leaned over the divider, “what did you think Joseph?” Yuri asked.

“I want to skate,” Joseph said firmly, determination in his eyes.

Yuuri laughed, “oh, and why is that?”

“Because I want to be pretty like you Papa!” he said enthusiastically. “Your jumps were so cool and, and,” he looked up pleadingly, “please be my coach Papa!”

Victor and Yuuri burst out laughing. “Oh my god he’s so much like you, but at least he was sober when he asked,” Victor wheezed. “Are you sure you didn’t have an affair my love.”

“Cheat on you? Never,” Yuuri took the hand with Victor’s ring and kissed it.

“Oi, love birds,” Yuri skated over to them, “can you stop with the PDA and get back on the ice. If I want to kick your ass at Worlds I need you in top shape.”

“Yurio, language,” Yuuri hissed.

“Since when did you care, Pig?”

Yuuri aggressively pointed at Joseph, “there are minors present.”

“Why the hell…” Yuri looked down at Joseph, “oh, shi- I mean. My bad.” He got off the rink and bent down. “So, this is the kid, huh? What’s your name?”

“Jo-Joseph,” the boy stuttered.

Yuri extended his hand and smiled, “nice to meet you. You can call me Yurio. My real name is Yuri, but since that’s also your father’s name I don’t want to confuse you.” Victor and Yuuri both looked at him, stunned. He stood straight up, “what. What’s with you two?”

Victor grinned, “so you finally accepted the name?”

Yuri went red, “only the munchkin can call me that, alright old man?”

Victor threw his hand in surrender, “alright, alright, I yield Yura. Now you may want to get back on the ice before Yakov has all of our heads.” Yuri nodded and headed back out. The family started out after him.

“Are all figure skaters pretty?” Joseph said, breaking the silence.

Yuuri looked at him, confused, “what?”

“You, the girl over there, Yurio, are all figure skater pretty?”

“Hey, what about me,” Victor asked.

Joseph shrugged, stonefaced, “you’re not pretty like they are.”

Victor gasped, offended while they heard Yurio laugh nearby. “That hurts Joseph.”

Then Joseph broke into a cheeky grin, “I never said you weren’t handsome though!”

“You’re forgiven.”

Yuuri laughed for what felt like the hundredth time that day as he looked fondly at his new family. His laughter was infectious as both Victor and Joseph started laughing too. When the laughter subsided, Victor looked at Yuuri sternly, but with a smile still on his face, “now go practice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fact that Joseph taught himself to read was actually based off my sister. My dad got sick of reading her "Wizard of Oz" and told her if she wanted to read it she needs to learn herself, which she did much to his surprise. At that point my dad was just happy he had such a smart little girl. She was four at the time. 
> 
> Also, Munchkin was my nickname when I was younger and now I just call everyone younger than me that.
> 
> Honestly him meeting Yurio and him deciding he wants to skate where my favorite points to right, the rest was just extra padding because I can't let myself write less than 1500 words these days.
> 
> Thank you all for all your support.


	4. First day of school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Victor start Joseph on his first day of school, where they face some challenges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm posting this a couple hours early, but I've actually had this thing finished for a while now. I hope you all enjoy.

Joseph was bouncing out of the rink holding both Yuuri’s and Victor’s hands. He had spent most of Yuuri’s and Victor’s practice time watching both of them. He seemed really excited at the prospect of learning how to skate, so they decided after his first day of school tomorrow; Since they both had a shortened day and the rink was open to the public after school hours, that they would start his lessons then.

“Are you really going to teach me how to skate Papa?” he asked Yuuri with wide eyes. “Is it easy to skate?”

“Well, yes and no. Since your young, it’s going to be easier for you to learn to balance. But you may fall a couple times before you learn completely. We’ll start with you holding onto our hands like this and skating around the rink,” Yuuri replied. “Are you still sure you want to do this?”

Joseph nodded enthusiastically, “Yup. I promise I won’t fall. I’ll be like you and Da.”

Victor chuckled, “when I first learned how to skate I fell a lot.”

Both Yuuri and Joseph looked at him in surprise. “Really _Vitya_?” Yuuri asked.

He nodded, “I started learning when I was eight, and I was a lanky kid. I kept falling over myself and leaning over. My instructor was pulling his hair out because I kept tripping. My parents got me a new teacher because they thought it was his teaching, but then I had a growth spurt and everything clicked.” He grinned, “I would pay to see what he thinks of me now.” He looked down at Joseph, “what you have to keep in mind is that you have to stand straight and tall. If you slouch, even a little bit, you’ll fall over.”

“I understand,” he puffed out his chest and drew himself to full height, “you won’t see me leaning over.”

Victor let go of his hand and patted his head, “I believe you.”

When they got home, Victor offered to make dinner while Yuuri took a shower. Joseph sat in the kitchen drawing in the new sketchbook that Yuuri bought for him at the store. They sat in silence for a little bit when Victor asked, “are you excited about school tomorrow _zvyozdochka_?”

Joseph gave a noncommittal shrug and kept drawing.

_Well that doesn’t look promising,_ Victor thought. He put the pot to boil and sat down at the table across from Joseph, who was avoiding eye contact with him. “Is there something wrong?” Another shrug. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Joseph gave a small sigh and put down his markers. “I’m scared the other kids won’t like me.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m different from them,” Joseph said. “At the orphanage, I was treated differently from the other kids because I remembered my parents. Most of them didn’t even live with their parents before arriving there. They never invited me to play with them, and some didn’t even talk to me. I was always alone.” He sighed again, “I’m just afraid it’s going to happen again.”

Victor reached across the table and squeezed Joseph’s hand, “you have nothing to be afraid of. I’m sure there will be at least one other kid who likes you. It’s impossible that no one will talk to you.”

“What’s going on?” A voice inquired. It was Yuuri, wearing shorts and a loose t-shirt. He was still drying his hair with a towel. “Is everything alright?”

Victor shook his head, “he’s afraid no one in his class with like him.”

“Aw,” Yuuri finished toweling his hair and set the towel on the counter so he could kneel next to Joseph. “When I was your age I was afraid of the exact same thing.”

Joseph looked at him in shock, “really?”

Yuuri nodded, “I was really shy as a kid. Much shyer than you are now. When I first went to school, I was prepared to sit in the back of class and have no friends. But then I met my friends Yuuko and Takeshi on the first day. We all loved ice skating and got along pretty well. In fact, we all learned together.” He patted Joseph’s back, “I know you’re scared. School is pretty scary at first, but I promise you you’ll do fine. Just don’t let anyone push you around, alright?”

Joseph nodded solemnly, “I understand Papa.” He looked at Victor, “what’s for dinner?”

Yuuri and Victor both chuckled at his sudden change in mood. “We’re having solyanka for dinner, with ham and beef in it,” Victor said.

“I like ham,” Joseph said, chipper.

“I’m glad you do,” Victor got up and went over to the stove to finish dinner.

\--

Yuuri settled Joseph into bed after singing him a lullaby in Japanese. The boy seemed really enchanted by the language and was excited to hear that he’ll visit him grandparents who also speak the language.

“I want to talk pretty like you Papa,” he said, curled under his sheets.

Yuuri brushed the fringe from his forehead and smiled, “I would be happy to teach you. Now,” he kissed him on the forehead, “go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow.” Joseph smiled up at him and rolled over. Before leaving the room, he gave the boy one last look and shut off the lights.

The Japanese man walked into his living room and let out a heavy sigh.

Victor looked up from the book he was reading, “What’s wrong _zolotse?”_

“I’m just worried he will be right.”

“That who will be right sweetheart?”

“Joseph,” Yuuri crossed his arms, “I’m worried that none of the other children will accept him. Small children can be very cruel.” He ran his hand through his hair, “what I’m more worried about are the other parents. I’m afraid they’ll treat Joseph differently when they find out he had two dads.”

Victor got up from the couch and walked over to Yuuri. He wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and kissed the back of his head, “it’s going to be fine. And even if the parents disapprove, they won’t dare say anything while we’re there.” Yuuri made a concerned noise. Victor spun Yuuri around, “look. I’m just as concerned about it as you are. I want Joseph to have a happy school career too, but we shouldn’t worry ourselves silly over this. What happens, happens.” He gave Yuuri a peck on the lips, “and no matter what happens, we have each other, right?”

Yuuri nodded his head slowly, “yeah. You’re right. I’m just overreacting.”

“You’re not overreacting. Your concerns are valid, but you shouldn’t make yourself sick over them.” He squeezed his hand, “now come on, we have to go to bed.”

“Can I…” Yuuri paused, “can I be the one to bring Joseph to school tomorrow? I know you have early practice with Yakov, and I don’t want him to get mad at you for being late again.”

Victor kissed his forehead, “of course you can. Whatever makes you happy.”

\--

Yuuri woke up twenty minutes before his alarm. He tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but his body wasn’t letting him. He got up and got dressed in the bathroom. He thought it would be a nice wakeup for his family if he made breakfast. He gathered the ingredients for pancakes, put a kettle on the stove for tea, and got to work.

He heard rustling from his room indicating that Victor had woken up. Ever since he started living with Yuuri, he slowly became less of a morning person, but he was nothing like Yuuri, who adored late mornings. Maybe it was because he had early practice, but he was slow during these types of days.

“Moring _Vitya_ ,” Yuuri greeted. Victor gave him an unintelligible response and sat down at the island. “Water is in the kettle for tea.”

“You’re a saint Yuuri,” Victor mumbled. He dragged himself from his seat and sluggishly grabbed a mug from the cupboard. He poured himself some water and put the tea packet inside. After he took a sip he let out a sigh, “now I feel more human.” He looked at Yuuri, “are you sure you’re okay with brining Joseph to school?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” he said while whipping the pancake batter. “Besides, I should meet the principal too, shouldn’t I?”

“Hm, you should. I saw her tell off the security guard,” he grinned at the memory, “it was absolutely stunning.”

Yuuri chuckled, “well hopefully _I_ don’t have a run in with the security guard.” He put the batter on the grill and let them sit. “Can you go wake up Joseph please?”

“Of course,” he set down his tea and headed over to his son’s room. He opened the door gingerly and looked on out at him. Joseph was softly snoring and had wrapped his blankets around him like a cocoon. Victor gave a little ‘aw’, and even felt a little guilty that he was waking the boy up. Nevertheless, he walked over and gently shook him awake. “Joseph, it’s time to wake up. You have school today.” Joseph’s eyes fluttered open and he sat up, rubbing his bleary eyes. Victor patted his back, “now go get dressed. We don’t have much time.” Joseph nodded and made his way to his dresser while Victor walked out to give him privacy.

When Victor sat down at the island again, Yuuri had finished the pancakes and started plating them. He walked over and gave a kiss to the side of Yuuri’s head. “They smell delicious, but not as delicious as you.”

Yuuri rolled his eyes and nudged him, “go sit back down you goof.” He handed Victor his plate and prepared his and Joseph’s. Speaking of Joseph, the boy walked into the room, still yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning Joseph,” Yuuri said. Joseph pulled himself up onto the island chair and smiled at Yuuri.

“Good morning Papa,” he said, still sleepy. Though he woke right up when Victor placed the plate of pancakes in front of him.

They all ate quickly since Joseph had to be at school by 8:00 and it was already 7:20. Joseph finished his pancakes and asked Yuuri, “where is my backpack?”

“Over on the table there,” he gestured towards the coffee table, “could you please put your school supplies in there? They’re next to it in the plastic bags.”

“Yes Papa,” he said happily. Joseph hopped off the chair and sped over to the table to pack his bag.

They were all ready to go by 7:30. Victor had Makkachin on a leash when Joseph and Yuuri headed towards the door.

“Say goodbye to Makkachin,” Yuuri said to Joseph. The boy patted the dog’s head and giggled when Makkachin licked his face. Yuuri gave Victor one last goodbye kiss before he took Joseph’s hand and headed out the door.

It was a brisk day out, but not too bad. Joseph skipped along the path to the school holding onto Yuuri’s hand. “Are you still worried about school?” Yuuri asked.

Joseph shook his head, “I have a good feeling about today.” He grinned up at Yuuri, “And even if I don’t make a friend, I’m learning to ice skate after school, and that will be fun!”

Yuuri chuckled, “yes, it will be.” They walked in silence for the rest of the was until they got to the school.

It was a very busy building. Parents were rushing in and out dropping their kids off, some were chatting while others were running back to their cars. Kids were playing and jumping around the playground waiting for school to start. It was a very hectic scene that made even Yuuri a little nervous. He looked down at Joseph, who looked just as nervous as he felt. He leaned down to Joseph’s level, “it’s going to be fine. The kids here seem plenty nice, and once school starts everyone will calm down, okay?” Joseph nodded, but he gripped Yuuri’s hand tightly. Yuuri gave him an encouraging smile and led him inside.

The halls inside were a bit quieter than the outside. Parents ambled around, talking to teachers in low voices while happy cheers and the sound of playing was heard from within the rooms. Yuuri looked around until he saw a woman who fit the description of the principal Victor described.

“Um, excuse me,” Yuuri said, walking up to the woman, “are you Principal Yahontov?”

“Yes, I am, how can I help you?” The woman’s eyes cut through him like a knife. Victor was right on one aspect, she was a terrifying woman.

“My name is Yuuri Katsuki. My son Joseph here was registered just the other day, I was wondering if you could show us to his classroom?”

Principal Yahontov looked down at Joseph and smiled, “I remember you. You came in with Mr. Nikiforov.” She noticed the way he gripped onto Yuuri’s leg and added, “you have nothing to be afraid of at this school.” She looked up at Yuuri, “But I must speak to you once we have him settled if that’s alright.”

“Um, alright,” Yuuri’s stomach dropped. Her wanting to talk in private didn’t seem like a good sign. They followed her to a classroom farther down the hall. The teacher wasn’t outside like most of the others.

“This is the advanced class,” she explained as she opened the door. “Your partner told me how he has already learned to read, so I decided it was best of we started him here. He already seems like a bright boy.”

Yuuri smiled proudly, “yes he is.” He looked out at the classroom to find it seemed like a normal classroom. Children were chatting and playing with toys, and there was a woman with long, nearly white hair sitting at a chair reading to a couple of the children.

“Mrs. Lebedev,” Principal Yahontov called out, “your new pupil is here.” The woman looked up and said something to the children that made them all get up and run towards the toy bin. She got up and walked over.

She vaguely reminded Yuuri of a swan. She was fairly young, looking like she was in her mid-twenties. She had a long neck and dark eyes that seemed to suck light into them, but her smile seemed genuine as she looked at Yuuri and Joseph.

She held out her hand to Yuuri, “my name is Mrs. Lebedev, I’ll be your son’s teacher for the rest of the year.”

He took her hand and shook it, thanking God he took Russian classes in college or else this whole conversation would be for naught, “it’s nice to meet you too. So,” he looked around, “this is the honor’s course. How do you choose kids this young?”

“Well, some parents teach their kids how to read and write before they come to school. To accommodate that, this school created a program for kids who already could read, and we teach them basics including math, but we also have special science programs and books to make sure their brain is stimulated,” she explained. “Your son will have to take a test to see where he is, but I’m sure he’ll stay in this class.”

“Thank you so much for everything,” he said. “Joseph,” he looked down at the boy, “are you going to be polite and say hello?”

Joseph looked at him like a deer in headlights and then back at the teacher. “Hello,” he said quietly.

“Hello to you too Joseph.” She kneeled down to look at him, “do you want me to show you where the books are?”

His eyes went wide and looked up at Yuuri, as if asking for permission. Yuuri smiled at him and gestured towards the teacher, “go ahead. I’ll be back for you in a couple hours.”

Joseph smiled at him and ran to the book shelf. He grabbed a random book and sat down on the carpet nearby another child with blond hair. Yuuri looked on fondly at the two and them. Little to his surprise, his son was already talking to the kid and was having a very animated conversation with them.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, “I have to talk to you Mr.Katsuki.

\--

They walked out of the room and closed the door behind them. “What’s the matter?” he asked nervously.

“So Mr.Nikiforv is your husband, correct?”

“Yes, but we haven’t been married long.”

She waved her hand, “doesn’t matter. What matters is that you need to be careful.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have to be careful with other parents,” she explained. “As much as I support same sex couples adopting, other parents won’t be as nice. As soon as both you and Mr. Nikiorov show up together, you may get backlash. Or worse, your child will in the form of kids bullying him.” She let out a sigh, “I don’t mean to sound like I’m threating you Mr.Katsuki, I have a cousin living with his husband in Canada. I’m just worried for Joseph’s sake. It may be wise to only have one parent come to PTA meetings and the such.”

Yuuri nodded his head. “I completely understand where you’re coming from. But both Victor and I want to be here for Joseph. So I’m sorry to say that we’ll both be here for him.”

Much to Yuuri’s surprise, she smiled. “I understand, and I’m glad you and your partner are dedicated to his education. In fact, there are a few other same sex couples in the school, but very few.” She leaned in and whispered, “just remember what I said. There will be consequences.” And with those parting words she left him in the hallway and walked away.

\--

Victor was starting to get nervous when Yuuri didn’t show up on time. He was starting to wonder if Yuuri ran into a problem with the principal or the other parents when he saw Yuuri running out of the locker room. He skated over to the barrier where Yuuri was tying his skates.

“Where were you? Did something happen at the school?”

Yuuri shook his head, “not really. Joseph’s teacher seems nice and the principal and I had a weird talk, but other than that…”

Victor cocked his head, “what weird talk?”

“She told us to be careful of how we act around the other parents. Apparently, they’re going to be judgmental of us because we’re a same sex couple.”

Victor shrugged, “I get that. It’s Russia after all.” He let out a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry you have to deal with people being idiots.”

“I’ve had to deal with other idiot skaters and my own self-deprecation _and_ anxiety.” He placed a hand on Victor’s cheek, “some disapproving parents mean so little to me.” He smiled broadly, “in fact there are other same sex couples in the school.”

Victor raised his eyebrows, “really?”

“MmHm, so we’re not alone.”

“That’s good.” He kissed the palm of Yuuri’s hand. “By the way, I see that look in your eye. You’re thinking about something else.”

Yuuri’s eyes lit up, “I have an idea for my free program.”

\--

Victor and Yuuri were tired after they’re grueling day at the rink. Yuuri experimented with different jumps for his program with Victor’s supervision, and after about two hours of that he had ballet with Lilia. Luckily, Lilia was kind enough to cut his lessons short so that he and Victor could pick up Joseph on time.

They rushed to the school after quickly packing up their stuff. The scene they met was similar to the one Yuuri saw when he dropped off Joseph. Parents were talking to each other, children in hand. Joseph and Victor walked hand in hand to the front of the school, getting a couple of looks from the other parents. They ignored the looks and stares and headed to Joseph’s classroom.

The classroom door was open with parents ambling around and talking to Mrs. Lebedev. Yuuri approached her and asked, “is it okay if we pick up Joseph?”

“Of course,” she gave Victor a look that seemed a little concerning, “who is this?”

“My husband,” he replied, trying not to back down.

Victor held out his hand, “My name is Victor Nikiforov, nice to meet you…?”

She took his hand tentatively, “Mrs.Lebedev.” She paused a moment, “wait, are you…?”

“The famous skater Victor Nikiforov,” one of the parents finished. “I didn’t know you had a child in the school, or…” he gave a pointed look to Yuuri.

“My husband and I have adopted a child recently, yes.” He gave the man a look that said to _back down._ “In fact, we came to pick him up. Now if we can,” he gestured to the classroom.

Mrs.Lebedev nodded, “of course.” Victor squeezed Yuuri hand and gave him a smirk, “let’s go _zolotse.”_

They walked into the classroom and Yuuri hissed, “are you really going to ignore what the principal said? We have to be careful.”

“What happened to _their opinion means little to me,”_ Victor whispered back.

Yuuri let out a sigh, “I know, but still.” He spotted Joseph playing with the child he saw when he first dropped him off. “Joseph,” he waved at him. The little boy eyes lit up and he grabbed the child’s hand and dragged him over.

“Papa, Da!” He brought the kid over, “this is my friend, Finn. We both like books about cats.”

“Aw,” Victor ruffled Joseph’s hair, “see, we told you wouldn’t have trouble making friends.”

Joseph grinned up at him. “I told them you were going to teach me how to skate!”

“Yes, we are,” Yuuri nodded. “We have to go now Joseph, say goodbye to Finn.”

“Awww, I want you to meet Finn’s parents,” Joseph whined.

Yuuri blinked in surprise, “what?”

Joseph nodded, “they’ll be here soon so please,” he clasped his hands together and gave puppy dog eyes.

Yuuri looked at Victor and he shrugged. “I guess we can wait around for a little bit,” Victor said.

“Well you won’t have to wait long,” a female voice came from behind. Victor and Yuuri turned around to find that the voice came from a tan woman with unruly brown hair. She also had heterochromia, one brown, one blue. She was dressed in a ripped pair of jeans and a leather jacket. Alternatively, the woman next to her had sleek, combed back blond hair and was wearing a white blouse and skirt.

“I’m guessing you’re Finn’s parents?” Victor said.

“Yes we are”, the blond woman replied in a chipper voice. She held out her hand, “my name is Adora Prince. My wife’s name here is Caterina Prince.”

Victor took Adora’s hand and shook it, “My name is Victor Nikiforov. My husband-

“Yuuri Katsuki,” Caterina finished, “I saw your programs last year during Worlds.” She winked at him mischievously, “your Eros program almost convinced my wife to like men.”

Adora smacked her wife’s arm, “dear.”

Caterina laughed, “I’m kidding.” She looked at Yuuri, “men are disappointing.”

He looked at Victor, “I would agree, but they have their perks.”

“Hey,” Victor said. The three of them laughed at his offended response, which got giggles from the children.

“Anyway,” Caterina put her hand on her hips, “we have places to be. C’mon Finn.”

“Okay Mama,” Finn said. “Goodbye Joseph, see you tomorrow.”

Joseph waved goodbye, “see you tomorrow.”

“We should get going too,” Yuuri said. “It was nice to meet you two,” and in a lower voice he added, “it’s also nice to meet others like us.”

Adora nodded, “likewise.”

“Yeah, we ‘outside’ parents need to stick together,” Caterina lightly punched Yuuri’s arm.

“Outside parents?”

“Yeah, the ones who don’t fit the mold,” Caterina shrugged. “There’s about a dime a dozen of us at the school, but we stick together at PTA meetings and functions like that.”

Adora took Finn’s hand, “anyway, we have to go. I wouldn’t mind setting up a playdate with Joseph if you guys don’t mind.”

Victor gave a signature heart smile, “not at all. We’re just glad Joseph made a friend.”

Adora smiled back at him, “yeah, us too. Goodbye Victor, Yuuri.”

“It was nice to meet both of you,” Yuuri said.

\--

The family headed to the ice rink hand in hand. When they got there, they asked the receptionist for skates in Joseph’s size. Joseph was elated when he was handed the bladed shoes.

“They’re so shiny,” he said.

“Yes they are,” Yuuri said, “just please don’t touch the blades.”

Victor and Yuuri taught Joseph how to properly lace up the skates in the locker room before tying their own. Joseph wobbled a little on the blades before righting his balance. “Walking in these is hard,” he complained.

Victor chuckled, “wait till you get in the ice.”

There were a good number of people on the ice. Parents who were also teaching their children how to skate along with couples and friends goofing off, filming each other and trying little jumps and stunts.

Joseph looked out onto the ice nervously and gripped Yuuri’s and Victor’s hand, “you won’t let me go, will you?”

“We won’t, don’t worry,” Yuuri reassured him.

They stepped out onto the ice and almost immediately Joseph started to slip. “Papa!” He cried

Yuuri lifted the boy a bit, “I’m right here, just don’t let go.” Joseph nodded, but he was still clearly nervous. They guided him close to the barrier so they were out of the way of the rest of the skaters.

“Now Joseph,” Victor said after the little boy whimpered, “skating wasn’t going to be easy. It took your Papa and I years to get where we are.” He bent down so that he was level with Joseph, ”if you’re going to take this seriously you can’t be scared to fall, okay? Falling a completely natural part of the process.” He patted the boy’s head, “are you ok now?”

Joseph nodded, “I’m ready Da. Sorry I’m so scared.”

“Nothing to apologize for little star.” He stood up straight, “now then. How about we try this again?” Joseph nodded at him, determination in his eyes.

They worked with him for about an hour. In that time, he did fall, but he was able to pick himself back up again without crying (unlike some of the other kids at the rink.) He learned a lot about balance and was eventually only holding onto Victor’s hand instead of both of them. Yuuri skated idly next to them and looked out on his family. Yuuri decided he had a long way to go, but they had a good start.

The happy family walked out of the rink, Joseph in Victor’s arms looking quite pleased with himself. “I didn’t cry Da, not once.”

“I know, I’m very proud of you,” he said. Victor knew that praise was vital at this stage of learning, and he didn’t mind spoiling his son a little. He looked over at Yuuri and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Yuuri chuckled and rubbed his cheek, “what was that for Victor?”

Victor gave him a soft smile, “I’m just happy to have you in my life, that’s all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaching Joseph how to skate was my favorite part, what's yours? 
> 
> Yes, that was Adora and Catra from She-Ra. I enjoy crossovers, ok.


	5. The ice brother of Russia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because if a mix-up with interviews, Yuuri nor Victor can be with Joseph on Saturday. So who else to step but Joseph's godfather, Yurio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This a monster of a chapter to write since I had so little motivation. Thank you so much for clicking on glittering ice.

Yuuri was practicing his quads when he looked over at Victor, who was on the phone next to the barrier. He looked worried and exasperated from the call, clearly annoyed with whatever news he was getting. Yuuri skated over and heard a few bits from it.

“What do you mean we can’t move it? Are you sure… Yes, yes, I understand. I’ll work something out.” Victor hung up the phone and let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong Vitya,” Yuuri asked.

“Remember the interview you have this Saturday?”

He nodded, “yes. I agreed to it months ago, why?”

“Well, apparently I agreed to an interview on the same day. So we’re both going to be out of the house that day. And I don’t have enough time to find a sitter for Joseph.”

Yuuri furrowed his brows, concerned, “what are we going then? We can’t leave him alone for the day. We have to find someone who can watch him.”

“But who? Everyone we know is busy,” Victor said.

“Oi, old man, Katsudon” Yuri skated over to the barrier. “Why are you two just standing around? I want to be kick your asses at worlds, but if you guys slack off the win is meaningless.”

“Sorry Yurio,” Yuuri said, “but a problem came up with Joseph and we’re not sure what to do.”

Yurio cocked his head, “what’s the deal? Problems at school?”

“No, we both have interviews on Saturday and we can’t leave him alone, nor can we move our interviews. We committed months ago, so we can’t back out now,” Victor explained.

“So just have someone watch him, what’s the big deal,” Yurio said.

“It’s not that simple, we don’t know anyone who would be willing to or has the time to watch him.” Yuuri looked at Yurio, “unless…”

“Unless what Katsudon?”

Yuuri took Yurio’s hands, “would you be willing to watch him this Saturday?”

“What?” Yurio pulled his hands away, “why the hell would I do that? I might have plans.”

“Oh,” Yuuri dropped his head in disappointment, “sorry about that. We just could use the help, but if you’re busy, I understand.” Yuuri was about to skate away when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Yurio sighed, “alright. I’ll do it. After all, I’m the kid’s godfather. I should have some part in looking after him.”

“You’re serious?” Yuuri brought him into a hug, “oh, thank you, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to us.”

Yurio squirmed away from his grip, “okay, I get it. Sheesh.” He straightened himself up, “I better get free food out of this.”

“Why don’t we just pay you?” Victor said. “It’s a babysitting gig after all.” He pulled 4445 rubles out of his pocket and gave them to a surprised looking Yuri. Yuri hesitantly took the money from Victor’s hand.

“Are you guys sure?” He asked, “I mean, you might need the money for the kid.”

Victor waved his hand dismissively, “It’s not an issue. Just make sure you take good care of him.”

Yuri shrugged, “It won’t be a problem.”

\---

It might be a problem.

Yuri stood at the door to the apartment with bags in hand full of children stuff he picked up along the way. Why the hell did he agree to this. He’s never taken care of a child. He was raised by his grandfather instead of his parents. He has no idea what to do.

He was almost tempted to turn around when the door was opened by a Yuuri, who looked relived. “Oh thank goodness you’re here. We were getting worried.”

Yuri shrugged, “you really think I would bail after you guys paid me? I have more integrity than that Katsudon.”

“I never said you didn’t,” Yuuri opened the door wider, “come on in.” Yuri stepped into the apartment when Yuuri called, “Joseph, where are you? Could you come here for a moment?”

The little boy ran into the entryway and looked up at Yuuri. _Jesus this kid is small,_ Yuri thought. Yuri wasn’t exactly tall, he was only fifteen after all. But this kid barely came up to his hip. _I can’t believe I’m saying this but I hope he grows up similar to Victor._ He turned to Yuuri, “how old is he again?”

“He’s five years old,” Yuuri responded happily. “His birthday is in October.”

Yuri nodded, “interesting.” He gave the bags to Yuuri, “do you think that he’ll be entertained by these?”

Yuuri looked into the bag and nodded, “he’ll be perfectly happy. Thank you so much Yurio, you didn’t have to do this.”

He shrugged, “I had a bit of extra cash from my last interview, so I thought it would be nice to get him something.”

“Aw,” Yuuri hugged him, “thank you so much. You’re an angel.”

Yuri squirmed away from him, “excuse you. I am the ice tiger of Russia, not some angel.”

“Sure Yura, whatever you say,” Victor said as he walked in, adjusting the lapels on his cuffs. He walked over and ruffled Joseph’s hair, who giggled. “Thanks again Yura, this means a lot to us.”

“Again, no problem,” Yuri said.

“Papa,” Joseph pulled on Yuuri’s coat, “why did you call me here?”

Yuuri kneeled down so that he was eye level to Joseph. “Listen well Joseph. Da and I have interviews we need to do. Yurio is going to watch you until we get back. And during that time, you have to behave for him, understand?”

Joseph nodded, “I understand Papa.” He leaned in and hugged Yuuri, “good luck on your interview. Have fun.”

Yuuri smiled, “we’ll try our best.” He stood up and straightened out his jacket. “Come on Victor, we’ll be late if we don’t leave now.” He grabbed his coat and opened the door. “I know this sounds repetitive, but your help really means a lot.”

“Just get you and the old man to your interviews, I’ll take care of the kid. Just don’t rent a hotel room for the night and make this an overnight thing, got it?”

Victor chuckled, “tempting, but not this go around.” He waved at them, “you two have fun.”

He watched Victor and Yuuri leave before looking down at Joseph. “So,” he said, “what do you want to do?”

Joseph shrugged, “I was drawing at the coffee table before Papa called me over, do you want to join me?”

“Alright,” Yuri walked out of the entryway only to be met by a large ball of brown fur. “Gah!” He dropped the bags as he was tackled to the ground by Makkachin, who started licking his face. Yuri banged his head against the floor, making him see white spots in his vision. He groaned, “Mackkachin, get off.” He pushed the dog aside and sat up. He rubbed the back of his head, absolutely sure he was going to have a bruise on the back of his head. He looked over to make sure that Joseph was ok, and he that the little boy was giggling and petting the dog.

“Was that funny to you?” Yuri said, giving the boy a side eye.

Joseph talked through his giggles, “no. It’s just Makkachin, he’s gets so excited when he meets people. He licked my face as soon as I walked into the apartment for the first time.”

“I’m surprised a munchkin like you didn’t get scared as soon as you saw this thing.” He reached over and gave Mackkachin scratches. “Seriously, how did you not get crushed by him?”

“I hid behind Papa’s leg initially, but he was calm after licking my dads. He actually a big lump, or at least that’s what Da said.”

Yuri nodded and started gathering the spilt contents from the floor and stood up. “Anyway, let’s get going. I bought you art supplies that I want to see used.”

Joseph beamed at him, “thank you Uncle Yurio!”

Yuri stopped in his tracks and turned around, “Uncle Yurio?”

“Yeah. I call Papa’s friend Uncle Pichit, and since your friends with both my parents your Uncle Yurio.” The kid smiled widely at him, not grasping the weight if what he said.

Yuri chuckled, “listen. You can call me Uncle Yurio when you’re in double digits, alright? I’m only fifteen, I’m not fit to be anyone’s uncle yet.” He held up the bags, “now come on, don’t you want to try out your new pencils?”

\--

Yuri turned on the news, assuming that it was safe enough for the kid. Joseph was content drawing with the advanced set of colored pencil that Yuri got him. Did it cost him a bit, sure, but it made him happy so Yuri was ok with spending a bit of money.

Yuri was drawing a detailed picture of a panther when he heard a small gasp from Joseph. “What’s up kid?”

“It Papa and Da!” It was indeed Yuuri and Victor, sitting together on a couch talking to an interviewer. Joseph ran up and sat close to the television before Yuri picked him up.

“Jeez kid, don’t sit to close. Your eyes will burn out of your head if you do that.” After he sat him down on the couch, he asked, “do you want a snack or something?” Joseph nodded, eyes still glued to the screen. As Yuri went to the kitchen he thought to himself, _don’t sit to close or your eyes will burn out of your head? Since when did I become my grandfather?_ After some rummaging around he found a box of graham crackers that was half full. 

He walked back to the couch and handed Joseph a graham cracker. He grabbed one himself, of course, and sat down to watch the interview.

It was a standard thing with standard questions. Apparently, they’re going to have their own, individual interviews later. However, since they were both in the studio, Yuri could tell that those executives thought they could squeeze more ratings out of the two together. Yuri bit down on his cracker, _pathetic._ Yuri’s done plenty of interviews, despite hating them. He got money out of it though so it didn’t matter. And these two needed as much money as possible because of the munchkin next to him who was chowing down.

The introduction was basic and dry, nothing really interesting. Until the camera panned to the women asking the questions, and that’s when he knew the interview was going to go South. She had that look in her eye, the look that said she had some uncomfortable questions that really shouldn’t be asked. He’d seen that look at his own interviews. It was the eyes similar to that of the woman who asked him if he had hooked up with any of his angels, he was fourteen at the time. Yakov had banned that woman and her gossip rag from all further interviews. _Hopefully this woman will have the class to keep her mouth shut._

“So,” the woman said, “you two are married, correct?”

_Nope, she’s going to be an idiot._

“Yes, we are,” Yuuri put his hands on Victor’s, “it’s honestly the happiest I’ve been in my life.” That got an ‘aw’ from the audience.

The woman’s smile was a thin line, “I see. And has this marriage been distracting you from your careers at all?”

Victor eyes narrowed, “Excuse me?”

The woman chuckled, “oh you know what they say about newlyweds, especially ones like you. Can’t take a step out of the bedroom.” A chorus of ‘oooooo’s’ came from the audience.

Yuuri retracted his hands like they burned, blushing and Victor sat up straighter. “We are very focused on our careers and will continue to be until they are over. Furthermore, what happens in our home and personal lives is our business and we will not answer questions pertaining to them.”

Yuri nodded, “you tell her, Victor.” Yuri looked over at Joseph and noticed that he looked confused. It was clear that Yuuri was in distress, but the poor kid couldn’t understand why. _I hope he never has to deal with assholes like these._

He looked back at the television as the woman gave another one of her fake sweet smiles. “Really, you can’t even answer one burning question. Because I have one.” She turned to a guy off camera, “can you put the picture on screen?”

The teenager’s face went white as he saw the picture. It was a candid photo of Victor, Yuuri… and Joseph. Yuri’s jaw dropped, it seemed to be a picture of them outside a classroom. It had to be taken not that long ago. Joseph was being held by Yuuri while Victor ruffled his hair. It was nice picture if it wasn’t a clear violation of privacy. He noticed the woman’s shit eating grin, _the audacity of the bitch._

Yuuri looked absolutely horrified, his hands over his mouth, tears in his eyes. Victor looked livid, his face a shade of red Yuri was pretty sure didn’t exist in the color spectrum. He turned to Joseph who had stopped eating and had dropped his cracker. _Oh God, this isn’t good._ He knew he should turn it off, but he was glued to his seat, too stunned to do anything.

The woman continued, ignoring their clearly upset reactions. “This picture was obtained by a third party, but we had our reporters look into it. We won’t say which school it was taken at for privacy reasons, but what _I’m_ interested in is who is this adorable little boy.”

“He’s our son,” Yuuri’s voice wobbled, like he was about to cry. “Where did you get this picture?”

The woman waved her hand dismissively, “as I said, a third party. Anyway,” she leaned forward, “what is this cuties name?”

Yuuri was to stunned to say anything, but Victor cut in, “we won’t be answering that question.”

“Ok, fine,” the woman said annoyed, “but is he like you two, ya know?” She gestured to the rings.

Yuuri found his voice, “we don’t know yet. And no matter his sexuality we will support him and his choice of partner.” He looked at the woman, gaze steeled, but there were still some tears in his eyes.

Yuri leaned his face into his hand, _so the mama tiger finally came out to play._ He looked at Joseph, who looked distressed, _good, protect your cub._

The woman frowned slightly, “really. That’s all? You don’t have some sort of ‘feeling’ or something?”

“No, we don’t,” Yuuri said, “and as I said, we will support him no matter what. Now then, do you have any _actual_ questions or are you going to continue going against our wishes about not poking your nose into our personal life?”

The woman blinked in surprise and started flipping through her notepad, “well… um… let’s see.”

“Then this interview is over. Come on Victor,” Yuuri took Victor’s hand and led him off the stage, but before he left he said, “and you will be hearing from our lawyers.” The woman sat there stunned, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. There were some stage hands running around shouting orders as the woman was escorted off the stage.

Yuri punched a fist in the air, “you tell them Katsudon!” He looked over at Joseph who looked like he had tears in his eyes. “Hey,” he rubbed the kid’s shoulders, “are you going to be alright?”

“Are Papa and Da in trouble because of me?” He said quietly.

“What, no.” He brought the boy into a hug, “they are not in trouble because of you. It was that interviewer’s fault. She did something she shouldn’t have done, and she will be punished for it.” Yuri paused for a moment, “do you want me to call your parents?”

Joseph nodded weakly and Yuri quickly dialed Victor’s number. “Hey, Victor.”

“Yura,” Victor said, surprised, “is something wrong?”

“We saw the interview,” Yuri explained, “and Joseph thinks you two are upset at him because Katsudon got angry. Can you put the phone on speaker so he can talk to both you?”

“Of course.”

Yuri handed the phone to Joseph, who grinned widely when he heard the voices on the other side. “Papa!”

“Hi honey,” Yuuri said, his voice sounding a bit watery. “How are you doing?”

“Yurio is fun to hang out with. He draws cat,” Joseph said. Yuri rolled his eyes at the laugh he heard from the other end. “Um, Papa, Da, are you mad at me?”

“What?” Yuuri sounded aghast, “no. We’re not mad. Why would you think that?”

“Because when the lady asked you about me you got upset.”

Yuuri sighed from the other side of the line, “that lady was invading our privacy. Your father and I are high profile ice skaters, so we tend to get people putting the spotlight on us when we don’t want it. And we, as your parents, don’t want to subject you to it. We want you to choose your own path without feeling pressured into doing anything.”

“We love you, so, so much Joseph,” Victor cut in. “We wouldn’t be mad at you for somebody else’s actions.”

Joseph nodded, “alright.”

“Now, we have to get to our interviews, which will hopefully be better. Can you hand us back to Yurio?”

Yuri took the phone, “hey old man, do you mind if I take the kid out for dinner? I think he needs it.”

“There’s a ramen shop two blocks to the left from the front door of the complex,” Victor said, “we can pay you back for the meal.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’ll be my treat. Anyway, hope your other interviews do better. Have fun.”

Victor chuckled, “we’ll try our best. See you later.”

“See ya old man.” He hung up the phone and turned to Joseph, “want to go out to dinner?”

“Sure,” Joseph chirped, “I’ll go get my coat.”

Yuri smiled as the little boy ran down the hallway. He looked at the half empty bags and pulled something out of one of them. When Joseph came back with a jacket, Yuri held out the little package. “Here kid, I have something for you.”

Joseph cocked his head and took the present, slowly unwrapping it. His eyes lit up at the plush tiger in his hands. He grinned, “thank you so much Yurio!”

“No problem. It’s one of the ones I got from my programs last year. I was going to give it to you at the end, but I thought that since that you were upset, you needed a little friend.”

“You get toys at the end of your programs?”

“Yeah,” Yuri shrugged, “it’s tradition for people in the audience to throw flowers and toys after the person finishes their performance. I usually just donate them, but I got attached to this one. And now, it’s yours.”

Joseph ran over and hugged him, “you’re the best Yurio.”

“I know. Now come on. I’m starving and I want food.”

\--

It was a less than five minute walk to the restaurant, but Yuri still held Joseph’s hand (just in case.)

It was small, but very homey on the inside. The booths were crammed together, but they weren’t on top of each other. It was dimly lit, but Yuri could still see the space pretty well. A woman with a top knot greeted them at the door.

“Hello, welcome. I’m guessing I’m seating one today?” She said as she grabbed a menu.

“No, two,” he raised his hand to show Joseph’s hand in his grip.

“My mistake,” she grabbed two menus, “let me show you to your table.” She walked them to a booth towards the back. “Your waitress will be here in a moment,” and she walked away.

Yuri took a look at the menu and noticed a lot of the food had different spices and herbs on them, stuff that he wasn’t sure that Joseph would like. “Hey, Joseph.”

“Yes?”

“How do you feel about spicy food? Or food with lots of herbs in it?” The look of disgust on the boy’s face was clear enough. _Ok then, special meal it is._ He quickly scanned the menu and found something that he wanted.

Just then, a woman came over. “Hi, I’m Amanda. I’ll be you waitress for the evening.” She looked at Joseph and smiled, “aw, is your big brother being nice and treating you to a nice dinner?”

Yuri blinked, “brother?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you two cousins then? There’s clearly a family resemblance.”

“I’m his godfather,” Yuri stated in a matter of fact tone. He wasn’t mad at all, it wasn’t like he was mistaken for the kid’s dad, or worse, his sister.

The waitress blushed, “oh, I’m sorry.” She stammered, “can I get you two something to drink?”

“We both want waters, and we know what we want to order.”

The woman snapped back, “great. What do you want?”

“Well, is there any possible way to have him just a bowl of noodles and beef? And he’ll need a fork.”

“Of course, that won’t be a problem.” She wrote something down and looked back up, “and you sir?”

“Just the fried chicken bowl please.” He handed the menus back and she scurried off. She quickly came back with the water.

Yuri sat there for a moment before his phone pinged. “Who is it now,” he growled as he took out his phone. His face softened when he saw the name.

**From Otabek:**

**Hey, do you want to video chat now?**

“Who’s that on your phone? You have a really big smile.” Joseph piped up.

“Oh, it’s just a friend,” Yuri said as he shot back a text. He noticed that Joseph gave him a dubious look.

**Sorry, I’m babysitting the Old man’s kid and I’m out to dinner.** He was about to put his phone away when it pinged again.

**From Otabek:**

**Victor and Yuuri have a kid now, since when?”**

**From Yuri:**

**This is a very recent development. As in the last fucking week. They’re trying the keep him on the down low so he doesn’t get harassed by reporters like his parents. He’s a pretty good kid. He hasn’t given me trouble the whole time I’ve babysat him so far.**

**From Otabek:**

**Can I see a picture of him?**

“Hey Joseph,” Yuri held up his camera, “can you smile for the camera?”

“Sure,” the boy gave a big smile as the camera flashed.

_Good, this kid can smile on command. That will be useful if he gets famous._ He texted the picture to Otabek, who responded,

**From Otabek:**

**Jesus Christ, he looks like a combination of the two. Are you sure he’s adopted?**

Yuri smirked at the response as Joseph piped up, “can I see a picture of the person you sent the picture of.”

“Yeah sure, give me a second.” He texted Otabek, **hey, the kid wants to see your picture. Do you mind giving me a selfie?”**

**From Otabek:**

**For you, anything.**

Yuri felt the heat rise in his cheeks when he saw the picture. It was a regular selfie, but it just something about Otabek…

“Wow,” Joseph said as he looked at the photo, “you chose a good one Yurio. I bet he’ll make you very happy!”

“What,” Yuri sputtered, “we’re just friends.”

Joseph looked confused. “Then why did you look at the texts in the same way Da looks at Papa when he’s not looking?” 

“It’s… complicated kid. We have some stuff to sort out, that’s all.” Yuri reached for his glass.

He nodded in understanding and handed back the phone, “well. When you sort things out, you two should adopt a girl.”

Yuri nearly choked on his water.

\--

The meal was pretty good. Joseph slurped down the noodles enthusiastically as Yuri took his time. Much to his surprise, he actually enjoyed spending time with the kid. Joseph was smart for age, and they talked about school.

“How are the other kids treating you?” Yuri asked.

Joseph looked down, “well, I have a couple of friends…”

“And?” Yuri raised an eyebrow.

“There’s this one kid. He makes fun of me for not having a mom. He says I’ll grow up funny.”

“Ah, screw him.” He put his elbows on the table, “look kid. You’re the lucky one here. Your parents chose you. His parents are stuck with his snotty nose.” He shrugged, “besides, I didn’t have much of a mother growing up.”

Joseph’s eyes lit up, “really?”

“Yeah. I was raised by my grandfather. And I turned out just fine.” He reached over and took the kid’s nose in between his finger, “so you’ll turn fine too.”

Joseph giggled, “thanks Yurio.” He looked over at the next table, “is it just me or are those girls staring at us?”

Yuri furrowed his brow and looked over, and his stomach dropped. _Shit,_ it was a group of his angels. He quickly looked for the waitress and when he spotted her, he signaled her over. “Please give me the check as soon as possible.” The woman was a bit confused, but she complied anyway. As soon as he payed the check, he grabbed Joseph’s hand and hightailed it out of the restaurant and back to the apartment.

He slammed the door shut and leaned against it, “that… was a close one.”

“Who were they?”

“My fans,” he sighed, “I appreciate them, but when they see me in public they get a bit crazy, and I didn’t want to cause a scene in the restaurant.” Just then, there was a knock on the door. Yuri froze, he turned around slowly and looked out the peephole.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Victor and Yuuri. Victor reached to knock again when Yuri opened the door. “Thank God, it’s you two.”

Yuuri furrowed his brow, “is something wrong? Did Joseph misbehave?”

“No, no, Joseph has been completely fine. No problems at all.” He noticed the proud smiles on both their faces. “We just ran into a couple of angels at the restaurant, and I was worried one of them stalked us home.”

“Well, no worries, it’s just us. Now then,” Victor stepped in the room, “where’s my little star!”

“Da! Papa!” Joseph ran into Victor’s arms and laughed as he was picked up. “You came back!”

“We’ll come back my little star,” Victor said as he nuzzled the boy’s face. “So he was well behaved?”

“Yeah, and I took a picture of him at the restaurant. Do you want me to send it to you?”

Yuuri nodded, “of course.” He got the pictured a cooed, “aw. What a handsome little man.”

“Yes, he is,” Victor agreed.

“Anyway,” Yuri put his hands in his pockets, “I have to go.”

“We understand,” Yuuri said, “have a good night Yurio.”

“You too Katsudon.”

“Just keep in mind, you’re always welcomed here.”

He smiled, “thanks.”

As Yuri was about walk out, he heard Joseph say, “Papa, Da, Yurio gave me a plush tiger. Do you want to see it?” He heard ‘aww’s’ and laughter as the happy family. He was almost envious until he realized something with a light heart.

_Maybe,_ Yuri thought, _maybe I’m part of that family too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their other interviews went well. 
> 
> Anyway, stay safe y'all


	6. Run in with Karens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor and Yuuri have to go to a PTA meeting, and they run into some difficult people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (looks at my update schedule) So that was a fucking a lie.
> 
> Sorry about this chapter being so late. I just lost all motivation for writing, but I'm getting it back. Expect more chapters in the future.

It was a lazy Sunday morning in the Katsuki-Nikiforov household. They’d had Joseph for about a month now, and they haven’t been happier. Sure, Joseph has his set of temper tantrums and whining fits, but Yuuri and Victor knew that was part of being a parent. You had to take the good with the bad.

Victor was making breakfast when Yuuri stumbled out of their bedroom, still groggy.

“Morning love,” Victor said, very chipper. Yuuri grumbled some sort of greeting and went over to the coffee pot. As he poured himself a coffee, they heard the doorbell. “I’ll get it.” Victor walked over to the door and headed downstairs. There, he could see mail shoved into their mailbox. He grabbed the mail, not thinking twice, and headed back upstairs.

When he got back, Joseph had woken up and was sitting at the island eating cereal, with Yuuri absentmindedly petting his hair. 

Victor flipped through the mail. It was mostly junk, a letter from Pichit was the only non-junk piece, but other than that. However, before he could throw them out, one caught his interest. He opened it and scanned the contents. “Ah, Yurri…”

Yuuri looked lazily in his direction. “hm?”

“It seems they want all the parents to attend a school meeting tonight. Apparently, there’s some emergency about the budget. They just want the parents.” He paused, “do you just want me to go?”

“No, I’ll come too.”

Victor looked at him, concerned, “are you sure?”

“Vitya,” Yuuri got up from his seat, “I know I was scared of the other parents last time, but I know what to expect this time.” He leaned up to kiss Victor. He lowered his voice, “all you have to do is keep your hands to yourself so you don’t scare the other parents.”

“But Yuuri,” he quietly whined. “How am I supposed to deny myself of those delectable thighs of yours,” he whispered.

“Keep it to hand holding,” Yuuri leaned into his ear, “and I’ll reward you.” He ran his hands over Victor’s hips, “we have an off day tomorrow, and Joseph is in school.”

Victor was breathless. Yuuri only pulled his true Eros when he wanted Victor to do something for him, and by God was Victor weak for it. Victor kissed forehead, whatever you want _lyubov moya.”_

“Good,” he patted Victor’s chest, “now then, why don’t I call Yurio for tonight.”

\---

Yurio was surprisingly quick to say yes to babysitting Joseph.

“Are you sure? We might be out really late, you may not be able to catch the last train or bus, and I would hate to force Yakov to drive out so late.”

“It’ll be fine if you leave food in the fridge and let me sleep on the couch for the night. Yakov is ok with me staying overnight. Remember how I stayed over a night of two at your place when him and Lilia were fighting. They really don’t care,” Yurio said nonchalantly.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure pig. And this call better not have delayed you coming to practice. I will kick your ass if you’re late.”

Yuuri laughed, “we’re all ready to go. Victor already brought Joseph to school and he’s on his way to the rink.”

“Then what’s taking you so long? Get off the phone and get moving!” Yurio scolded.

“Okay, okay. Thanks again Yura.”

“It’s no problem.” Yurio said quietly, “I enjoy it actually.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” the teenage snapped, “just get your ass to the rink.”

\--

Yuuri got to the rink in plenty of time. Victor had just gotten in and was tying his skates.

“You’re going to practice,” Yuuri asked.

“Yakov wants to see my short program first thing.” He finished and looked, “speaking of which, “how’s your free coming?”

Yuuri kissed the top of his head, “it’s going great. The music just came in and it sounds great. It’s the same person who did my ‘Yuuri on ice’.”

“That’s great!” Victor cocked his head, “actually, what is the theme this year?”

Yuuri smiled at him, “familial love.”

Victor brought him in for a surprise kiss, they sat there for a bit until they heard a gagging sound. They both turned around to see Yuri gagging and clutching his throat.

“Good morning Yurio,” Victor said brightly. “How are you?”

“Absolutely disgusted.” Yuri walked over to his locker and began to lace his own skates.

Victor smirked at Yuuri, who rolled his eyes. “Should I say something about last time Otabeck was here?”

“You mean with Yura practically off the ground, pinned to the wall,” he whispered, “nah. Let’s not embarrass him.”

“Are you sure, it would be perfect practice for when we can embarrass Joseph.”

Yuuri nudged him, “no.”

They got out to the rink with Yakov already at Victor. “I’m ten minutes early,” Victor said, defending himself. “At least give me that.”

“I’ll give you that, but that’s it. Now get on the ice,” Yakov said gruffly.

“Yes sir,” Victor saluted him and skated off.

Yuuri was surprised when he heard Yakov say “Katsuki.”

“Yes sir?” Yuuri asked nervously.

“How’s your boy?”

Yuuri blinked, “he’s good. He started school and seems to be enjoying it.”

“Gotten him into ice skating yet?” Yakov asked.

“Actually, yeah. He was so enchanted with the skaters last time he was here that he wanted to be one. We take him skating and he’s picking it up quickly. He’s only fallen a couple time.”

Yakov nodded, “good. Are you planning to get him a coach?”

“When he’s older, and if he’s still into it. It was funny last time he was here.”

“What was so funny?”

“He asked me to be his coach.” He grinned, “isn’t that cute.”

“Kid’s smart, at least you wouldn’t have to pay coaching fees when he’s of age.”

“Wait, what.” Yuuri furrowed his brow, “you think it’s a good idea for me to coach him?”

Yakov shrugged, “why not. If vitya can coach then anyone can.” He patted his shoulder, “you’ll do right by him Katsuki, don’t worry.” “Now then,” he barked, “get on the ice. You better be able to compete with my top skaters. No slacking off because of the kid.”

“That won’t be a problem.” He got a dark look in his eye, “I’ll snatch that gold right under Victor’s nose.”

\--

Practice went well. It was mostly Yakov coaching Victor, but that gave Yuuri plenty of time to practice his short program and get used to the music. They walked to the school, exhausted and with heavy limbs, but they made it in time.

“Da, Papa!” Joseph cried as he leapt into their arms. “You came!”

“Of course we came back,” Yuuri said, “why wouldn’t we?” Joseph bit his lip and didn’t say anything, which concerned Yuuri. “Is something wrong honey?”

Joseph brightened up, “nope. I just want to go home and see Makkachin.”

“Ok, if you insist you’re okay.” He looked up at the teacher, who was giving him a very strange look. They took Joseph’s hands and walked out of the school.

A couple hours later, Yuuri and Victor were dressing in business causal clothing. Yurio arrived at around 8:00 with a couple of things for Joseph. “Hey pig,” he said when Yuuri opened the door.

“Hello to you too Yura,” he opened the door wider to let him in. “He’s already had dinner, but there’s food in the fridge for both of you in case you get hungry. His bedtime is 10:00, but he usually falls asleep around 9:30. Sorry I didn’t tell you last time.”

“Got it,” Yurio nodded and placed the bags down on the table. “Thanks for letting crash on your couch.”

“It’s no problem,” Victor said, “you’re the one taking care of him after all.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, just get to your meeting.”

Victor and Yuuri said their goodbyes to Joseph and assured him that they would be back, and headed out the door.

“So, kid,” Yurio said, “what do you want to do.” He noticed that Joseph didn’t say anything, he just looked at the door and then back down at his feet. “Is everything alright? You know they’ll come back, right?”

“Yeah…” Joseph’s voice trailed off.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there.” He kneeled to the ground so he could look Joseph in the eyes, “what’s going on? Is it something at school?”

Joseph was silent for a moment before saying, “yeah. Can I ask you about something…?”

\--

They arrived to the school at 8:15. The couple followed the signs indicating the PTA meeting room. They arrived at the gym, which doubled as an auditorium. Yuuri scanned the room. It was full of parents talking and interacting. There were folding chairs neatly lined up, some already filled with chatting occupants. There was also a table that served water and snacks. He wasn’t exactly sure on what to do. He wasn’t that great at socializing at parties. Hell, the only way he was able to talk to Victor was by getting completely hammered. He looked up at his husband to see what he was doing and saw uncertainty painted across his face. Yuuri was confused, his husband is very much an extrovert and usually the life of the party. It took himself a reason to understand why Victor looked so nervous. _That’s right. Gay couples aren’t accepted here. We might get negative reactions from the other parents._

“Victor,” he said quietly, “are you going to be alright? Do you want me to get you some water?”

“Water would be lovely, thank you.” Victor squeezed his hand. “I just hope the person who took the photograph isn’t here.”

Yuuri raised his eyebrows. He had completely forgotten that fact, preferring to have the memory blocked out entirely. “We don’t have Joseph, they’ll be less interested.”

“Or, they take more candid photos of us.”

Before he could reply, he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Yuuri!”

He turned around quickly to see that is was Caterina and Adora. He let out a sigh of relief. “Hello Caterina, Adora. It’s good to see you.”

“What’s with all the formalities? It’s just us, our kids are friends.” She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, “but it’s great to see you too.”

“We saw your interviews. I’m so sorry about that photo with Joseph. That shouldn’t have happened. Here,” she handed Victor a business card. “I’m a lawyer who deals with cases like this. I’m always happy to help.”

“Thank you Adora,” he eyed the room looking for anyone with a camera or phone out, “we might actually take you up on your offer.”

“Yeah, my Adora is the best in the biz. I’m just some crummy detective.” Adora shot her a look that she ignored. She winked at Yuuri, “I just might be able to find the person who took that photo.”

“Seriously?” Yuuri said.

“Yup, as soon as that interview went up I started thinking back to that day. I already have a sneaking suspicion of who it might be.”

“Can you tell us,” Victor asked urgently.

Caterina shook her head, “sadly no. It’s a rule in my job that you never tell your suspicion to your clients, less they go and try to do something themselves.” Her voice went dark, “people have been killed that way.” The whole group stood there stunned until she broke into a grin and slapped Yuuri on the back, “I’m just messing with you guys. Don’t take me so seriously.”

“Anyway,” Adora said, “do you want to meet the other parents?”

“Um,” Yuuri bit his lip, “I’m not sure…”

“Don’t worry, we’re friends with the more accepting couples. Follow us.” The couple followed Adora and Caterina to a small section of the gym where there were a group of parents standing around. “Guys, we brought them,” Adora said.

The group of couples there were diverse. It was a mixture of queer and straight couples where the participants weren’t truly straight, they just chose to settle down with the one they loved who happened to be of the opposite gender. They soon learned that Gabrielle and Bowman’s daughter had an interest in ballet, and was going to be starting soon. Skyla’s and Pamela’s daughter want to start learning how to ice skate too, just like their Joseph.

“You guys are top notch professionals. Could you teach her how to skate?” Skyla asked, “I’m no good at it due to my bulky feature and Pamela never learned how because she lived on an island, so you know, no ice. We could pay you.”

“We might not be able to teach her every week. The season is starting back up in full swing and we both need to practice. However, if you’re willing to work with our schedule then we might have something,” Victor explained.

“That would be amazing, thank you!” Skyla said, “do you want to exchange numbers to set up lessons?”

“We wouldn’t mind that at all, no.”

One of the other couples, much to Yuuri’s surprise, was another Japanese and Russian couple. They were very friendly and the woman, named Kyoka, spoke to Yuuri in their native tongue, which was a nice change of pace.

“ _So you’re teaching your son how to ice skate. We’re teaching ours too. He’s just gotten the hang of balancing. Do you think he’ll follow you in his footsteps?”_

_“I have no clue, all I know is that I want him to be happy.”_

_“That’s so sweet of you, letting your child choose their own path. My father-in-law tried to force my husband into taking the family business, but he was able to get out of it thankfully. He’s a painter now, and a very successful one at that.”_ She beamed proudly.

“ _What to do you do?”_ Yuuri asked.

“ _Oh, I’m a therapist. It will make it easier on me when Mika’s older and start’s having problems. Certain things run on his father’s side of the family.”_

_“It’s why I’m thankful we adopted instead of surrogacy, I didn’t want my son to have my anxiety disorder, especially if he goes into sports.”_

_“That’s reasonable.”_

As the two were chatting, Victor tapped him on the shoulder, “do you want me to get you a drink?”

“A drink would be lovely, yes.” Yuuri leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Victor blinked at him, confused, “I thought we were keeping it to hand holding?”

Yuuri smirked at him. “I said _you_ were keeping it G. I didn’t say anything about me.”

Victor’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he smiled, “you little minx.”

He shrugged and patted his cheek, “how about that drink now?”

“Whatever you want sweetheart.”

Yuuri continued to chat with the other parents and was quite enjoying himself. However, as time went on, he got worried about Victor. “I’m going to go look for him, ok guys?”

“Go, find your boo!” Caterina catcalled after him.

He wandered around the gym looking for any sign of the tall, silver haired man. He had no luck by the punch table, or the sides of the gym. He didn’t understand how Victor could disappear into thin air. He was about to turn back when he heard “wow, five time gold medalist, I’m so impressed.” Yuuri whipped his head around and saw a woman talking to Victor, and she was much too close to his liking.

As he walked over there, he heard more snippets of the conversation.

“I can’t believe you have a child in this school Victor. I imagine your wife must be having a hard time letting him go to school. I know I did.”

“I… don’t have a wife,” Victor said.

“Really?” The woman gripped his arm, “well, I can’t imagine a young boy having no mother in his life. It must be pretty hard being a single father.” Yuuri could see her bat her eyelashes at him.

“I’m not single.” Victor stated plainly.

“Oh, so you have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

The woman looked extremely puzzled, “then how…?”

“Victor!” Yuuri called out, slapping on his biggest smile. He jogged up to him and wrapped his arms around Victor, “there you are _zvezda moya_ , I was wondering where you went.”

“Sorry _lapochka,_ people kept on recognizing me and asking for autographs.”

“Victor, who is this?” She gritted out. Yuuri smirked at her, she looked like she was simmering.

“Oh him, this is my husband, Yuuri! He’s a competitive skater too.” He looked at him with love in his eyes, “he actually beat the world record for amount of points given in a single program.” He brought him closer, “I’m so proud of him.”

“I bet,” the woman was glaring daggers at Yuuri. “Anyway, I think it’s nearly time to start the meeting. I’m going to go sit down.” The woman scurried off without another word.

Victor turned to him, “did you seriously just use _my_ term of endearment for you?”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, it just makes you sound so hot.”

Before they could do anything, they heard feedback from a microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, would you please take your seats.” Victor and Yuuri made their way to the front of the seats and found that Caterina had saved them seats. “Thanks guys,” Yuuri whispered.

“No problem.”

The meeting itself was fairly boring and took a good three hours. It was mostly about budgeting and wanting to cut money out of the art and music programs, which many parents voted against. One parent suggested that they should cut one percent from each teacher’s paychecks to make up the deficit, which garnered him many dirty looks. Victor was rather bored by this, but he needed to be here to support his son’s school, so he sat through the meeting with music from his previous programs running through his head.

Eventually they decided on a solution and went to their final point of the evening.

“All the classes will be taking a field trip this year, each going on a different day to the same location. We need location ideas.” Some parents tossed out ideas such as a local amusement park and farms, but the others argued that it should be an indoor activity that should educational as well. Yuuri contemplated for a moment before raising his hand. “What are you doing _zolotse?”_ Victor whispered.

Yuuri shrugged, “I have an idea.”

The woman running the meeting saw him, “do you have an idea, Mr…?”

“Katsuki. Yuuri Katsuki. And yes, I do have an idea.” He took a deep breath, “why don’t we take the kids to an ice skating rink.” There were murmurs in the crowd. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but think of it this way: Not all kids have the chance to go skating. And it’s educational because we’re teaching kids new skills with coordination.”

“And which skating rink would you recommend Mr. Kastuki?” The woman said, her voice clipped.

“I work at a rink that would be able to host us. I can get us a reserved time and we can have professional skaters teach the kids.”

“Oh,” the woman raised an eyebrow, “and how do you plan on doing this? Don’t you need to be some sort of skater of note to procure this?”

“Well I am a grand prix silver winner who practices there alongside Victor Nikiforov.” That got voices going. Whispers of ‘the Victor Nikiforov’ and ‘he must be lying’. “And many more professional skaters I’m friends with practice there. And Victor would gladly teach the children.”

“And how do you know that a highly known professional like the Victor Nikiforov would be ‘gladly teach’ as you put it.” This woman was really starting to get on his nerves. He was about to say something when Victor stood up.

“I would be honored to teach the children of this school how to skate, and our fellow athletes would be more than happy to help.” He flashed a grin at the woman, who looked dumbstruck.

“You’re… the Victor Nikiforov,” she said, stunned. That brought up even more whispers among the crowd. Yuuri smiled and rolled his eyes at the smug look Victor shot and him.

“Yes, I am. I will have all the details worked out by the end of the week. Is that sufficient for you?”  
  


“Well… you see,” the woman stuttered as she straightened herself up, “we still need to vote on this. Everyone is favor of…” she didn’t have to finish her sentence when almost all the hands in the auditorium. “So that settles that. Everyone, expect field trip letters in two weeks.” She banged the gavel down.

\---

Victor and Yuuri laughed all the way back to the apartment.

“Did you see that look on her face when you introduced yourself?” Yuuri chuckled.

“Did _you_ see the look on that mother when you practically clung to my arm,” Victor howled. “I thought she was going to combust.”

“Me too.” He took Victor’s arm and wrapped around it, “and I think you enjoyed me being possessive, don’t you _zvezda moya,”_ he purred.

Victor’s face had a faint blush as he turned away and gave a fake cough. “God, when you pull out your Eros… I forgot how seductive you can be.”

Yuuri smirked. “Remember, we have off tomorrow my dear,” he leaned forward so he can whisper, “you can do whatever you want to me.”

Victor forgot to breath for a second when they made their way to their apartment door. They opened it slowly, expecting for everyone to be asleep already. Much to their surprise, Yurio was sitting at the counter drinking what looked like coffee.

“Yura, is there something wrong? You’re supposed to be asleep,” Yuuri said, concerned.

“Yeah Katsudon, there is something wrong.”

Victor furrowed his eyebrows, “is it something with Joseph?”

“Yeah.” Yurio took a deep breath, “apparently this kid is tormenting him at school, but the teacher wouldn’t do anything about it.”

“What is this child doing?” Victor said.

“Calling him slurs and insulting him, pushing him around. When Joseph fights back the teacher punishes him instead of the other kid. His friend Finn tried to protect him, but they ended up getting a black eye at recess because of the little snot.”

Yuuri was stunned, “and the teacher does nothing about this?”

“She tells him that there’s no proof, despite a kid getting a black eye.” He clutched the mug tightly, “if I ever meet this bitch I will kick her ass, no question.”

“Oh God,” Yuuri chocked, “it’s because of me.”

Victor blinked, “why would you say that.”

“When she found out the Joseph had us as parents, she’s been giving us strange looks. I caught her staring at me when we picked up Joseph today.” He put his head in his hands, “what am I going to do?”

“You aren’t alone. Look, we might be able catch the kid in the act during the field trip at the rink. We’ll tell the principal what’s been happening and get justice for him, ok?” Victor said.

“What field trip the rink?” Yurio asked.

“Um, heh heh,” Victor rubbed the back of his neck, “they needed a location for a field trip and we sort of offered the rink.”

“Did you ask Yakov?”

“Not yet. We will tomorrow at some point. It’s our off day after all.” Victor said sheepishly.

“He’s going to kill you.”

“Yeah, I know.” Victor raised his finger, “but, he might get more pupils out of this. We have plenty of skaters that can coach kids in their off time. And we can hold it on Sunday, when none of the skaters practice then.”

Yurio shrugged, “could work. But Yakov will still kill you for offering his rink without permission.”

“It was actually my idea,” Yuuri said. “So I will be the one going there to ask him.”

Yurio looked surprised, “since when did you grow a pair?”

Yuuri was about to open his mouth to retort when Victor stepped in between them, “ok everyone. I think it’s time for bed.”

\--

Victor got under the covers with Yuuri, who was staring at the ceiling. “My love, what is wrong?” Victor asked.

“I’m just wondering why Joseph didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell us. Did we do something wrong?”

Victor reached for his hand, “I don’t think it’s that we scared him off, but I think he just wants to look brave and that he can handle it himself. Remember, Yura told us that he was defending himself, it was the teacher that was punishing him for it.”

“You’re right. Maybe I’m over thinking this,” Yuuri said.

He kissed his hand, “don’t worry about it. We’ll confront the teacher during the field trip if anything goes wrong, alright?”

Yuuri smiled and nodded, “alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> I based part of the beginning on this animation> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLu-_pThtjQ. It's so pretty, go watch it and give the artist love. I love the head cannon that Yuri is really good at singing. Hey, if he can dance really well drunk why can't he sing? Also Victor use of nicknames and soft touches fuels a good quarter of this fic. I love how the fandom took some random stuff from the show and went, "this is a character trait, change my mind." God, the fandom is fun.
> 
> Russian translations.  
> Zolotse- my gold.  
> Zvyozdochka- little star  
> Zvezda Moya- my star  
> lyubov moya- my love  
> 350 roubles- $5.00
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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